Cuomo expands probe of NY foreclosures

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is seeking information from four major mortgage servicers — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage — concerning the practice known as “robo-signing” in home foreclosure proceedings, he announced today. Cuomo called on mortgage servicers engaged in robo-signing to immediately suspend all foreclosure actions in the state, including evictions and foreclosure sales. He is also requesting that the mortgage servicers not file any new foreclosures until they correct their procedures. “I will not allow New Yorkers to lose their homes due to mortgage goliaths that buck the system by submitting affidavits signed without knowledge of the facts,” Cuomo said. “Such conduct is a fraud upon our courts and a slap in the face of New Yorkers struggling to get by in this economy.” Tens of thousands of New Yorkers have been affected. Foreclosure rates in Nassau and Suffolk counties rank among the 10 highest in the nation. More than 60,000 New York homes are currently in foreclosure, and 130,000 New York homeowners have received pre-foreclosure notices this year after falling behind on their mortgage payments. TRD