Posted by Philip Johnson on 1/16/11 10:20am
Msg #368879

Some just give us all a bad name.

http://www.americanrescuesolutions.com/Articles/Who-is-Linda-Green-A-Case-of-Foreclosure-Fraud.shtml

An excerpt from this article is below.


The Notary's Function

A notary public functions in part as an official who authenticates the signing of a document. In other words, the notary's stamp and signature is an official declaration that the other signatures on the document are true signatures, not forgeries. Generally, a notary public directly observes the person who signs a document and verifies that person's identity, thus certifying that the document is legal and authentic.

The following is testimony from the deposition of paralegal Tammie Kapusta, former employee of a law firm with clients in the mortgage industry, as published by the Florida AG:
- Q: Would these notaries be there watching [...] as she signed?
- A: No.
- Q: She would just sit there and sign stacks of them?
- A: Correct. As far as notaries go in the firm I don't think any notary actually used their own notary stamp. The team used them.
- Q: There were just stamps around?
- A: Yes.
- Q: And you actually saw that?
- A: I was part of that.

Kapusta's testimony illustrates the problem: mortgage companies appear comfortable using any method at their disposal -- even outright fraud -- to push lawsuits through the courts with falsified documents so that they can foreclose on struggling homeowners.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 1/16/11 3:54pm
Msg #368887

As these lawsuits grow, more and more notary "NSAs" will be called in to court to testify to the methods they use to identify the borrowers and the procedures we use to present the loan and obtain signatures.

I had to give a deposition on just this information two months ago, and since it's still an ongoing case, I probably should not comment on the specifics except to say it was a loan from 5 years ago. Just make sure that you a following the laws of your state and you give no advice whatsoever to the borrower concerning the loan. I was highly stressed going into the deposition because I didn't know what to expect. But when all was done, I was comfortable with the methods I use to complete loan signings.

This is not legal advice, just my opinion.

Reply by snoopdogMs on 1/16/11 4:19pm
Msg #368899

It's a sad day when you lose an account

because you notify the title company manager that you follow state laws which protects both the notary and the title company from future lawsuits. This happened to me when a local title company (whom I had been closing a few loans a week) had hired my associate(daughter) for minor office work and asked her to go get a signature without benefit of her seal or journal for her records. She did not have her seal or journal with her since her work is office related. She did not go. I sent the manager a nice e-mail stating that I am training (SA training) my daughter to follow our state laws and that we both adhere to strict guidelines for our protection and the title company also. I have not heard from the manager since(at least a month) for any closings or my daughter has not been called to come in. The manager had been boasting to me that I was his best closer of all his closers. I guess wrong is right and right is wrong.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 1/16/11 4:27pm
Msg #368900

Just the tip of the iceburg!

Here in Florida we have the Law Office of David J. Stern - known as a "foreclosure mill", where thousands, if not millions of illegally and fraudulently notarized documents were executed.

If anyone is interested in this, there was a great thorough article done by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. I was interviewed for that article and am mentioned briefly at the end.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101128/ARTICLE/11281042

We're talking documents that were notarized without any declarant signing the document; notarizations dated prior to the date the notary was commissioned; mixmatched signatures. This is an absolute mess. At the law firm where I work, I am handling several foreclosures, and we are fighting a few of them due to these types of fraudulent notarizations.

Here are just some of the excerpts from depositions of Stern's employees:

*****************

Q. When you execute the assignment, do you verbally acknowledge what you are executing?
A. Verbally acknowledge? No, sir.
Q. What do you do, pick up your pen and sign?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When you are executing an affidavit as opposed to an assignment, do you verbally swear to the contents of the affidavit to the notary?
[...]
A. No. I don't verbally swear when I'm signing assignments, no.
Q. As a notary yourself you are familiar with that requirement, correct?
A. No.

*****************

Q. In the jurat, you acknowledge you are the assistant secretary for and on behalf of MERS, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. How did you acknowledge that to [the notary]?
A. They know that I have the MERS power of attorney. It's available for all the employees to view.
Q. So just to be clear, you didn't verbally say I am the assistant secretary, etc., etc., correct?
A. No, sir.

*****************

Q. Wouldn't you agree with me that it is improper for you to sign something and have it notarized when, in fact, you don't know whether or not it's true?
A. I don't know.

*****************

Q. Can you explain why it is that you don't keep a log or record of the documents that you notarize?
A. No.
Q. Are you aware of the Attorney General's opinion that that is the preferred practice for notaries?
A. I'm sorry?
Q. Are you aware that the Attorney General has issued an opinion that notaries should keep a log?
A. No.