Wells Fargo accused of fabricating foreclosure documents

 The nation’s largest mortgage servicer, Wells Fargo, is being investigated for allegedly setting up detailed internal procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and three major regulators are handling the investigation into the foreclosure manual, which the lender maintains does not violate any rules.

“Wells Fargo’s foreclosure processes — today and back in 2012 — are appropriate [and] legal. To allege otherwise is simply misrepresenting the facts,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said. “Wells Fargo’s Foreclosure Attorney Procedures Manual provides guidelines for outside attorneys to be compliant with state and regulatory requirements.”

But according to the New York Post, lawyers, forensic accountants and consumer advocates have long suspected that banks were habitually fabricating documents to prove ownership of loans — something foreclosure defense lawyers call a “ta-da endorsement,” which describes the miraculous appearance of documents as needed by the bank in a foreclosure case.

Wells Fargo services roughly 9 million home loans. [NYP] – Christopher Cameron