The purpose of this article is to acquaint homeowners with spotting obvious bank fraud related to foreclosure lawsuits. In a case where there is a mortgage on a home, it is necessary for the bank to prove to the court that as of the date of the initiation of the foreclosure lawsuit it was in possession of the original note and mortgage. In addition, the bank must be able to prove to the court that as of the date of the initiation of the foreclosure lawsuit it owned the mortgage.
Checking to See If An Assignment is Valid
The following is a list of ways of investigating whether the assignment to the bank which has initiated the foreclosure lawsuit against you was in conformity to New York State law.
The first thing you should do is look at the signatures on the assignment document. Next to the signature should be the date of the assignment. Check to see the date of the assignment was earlier in time than the date the bank initiated the foreclosure lawsuit. The date on the top of the assignment document should not be different from the date it was executed at the bottom of the document.
Check to see if the person executing the assignment has executed it as “attorney in fact.” This means the person executing the assignment was executing it under power of attorney. In that case there should be a power of attorney related to this assignment. The bank should be able to produce the power of attorney so you can ascertain as to whether the person who executed as attorney in fact actually had power of attorney on the date he or she executed the document. If the person with the power of attorney was not an employee of the financial institution which was the holder of the assignment he or she may not have had the appropriate authority to execute the assignment.
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