DANGER - ROBO-SIGNERS AHEAD!

Let me say, I've worked in the REO industry for over 10 years now, and I've seen a lot.

I've seen people saying that values in Detroit, MI were never going to get lower, only to see the price of a house go from $40K to given away for $500.  I've seen sheriff's shoot the borrowers pit bull.  I've seen having one of my agents killed by some tenants.  I've seen fraud perpetrated by borrowers the likes of which you haven't seen.

I've seen grow houses, meth houses, murder houses, suicide houses, houses that blew up, houses that had a pool in the middle of the living room, and houses that were used as a tiger pen (no, really...).

So, yeah, I've seen a lot.

Because of this, I think I can safely comment on the latest foreclosure fiasco that is on the news 24/7.

The dreaded ROBO-SIGNERS.

First off - big disclaimer:  I am many things, but the one thing I'm not is an attorney.  But I'm familiar enough with foreclosure procedure to be able to tell you one little thing. This robo-signer thing shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is.

Yes, the employees of loan servicers should not have signed an affidavit that they didn't take the time to verify was true.  That should be Foreclosure Rule #1:  If you sign an affidavit, make sure you know what it is you're signing.  Perjury is, after all, a crime.

Yes, this is a problem.  Too many foreclosures occurred because of invalid affidavits.

BUT, let's clarify something here:

What's in the affidavits, the information regarding how much a borrower owes and when the last time they made a payment was - IS TRUE.

Trust me, I've dealt with borrower attorneys. Their job (and they do it well) is to find any means possible to stall the foreclosure/eviction and keep their client in the house as long as possible.  But in all the multitude of articles, commentary, posts on the internet, etc., not a single borrower's attorney has been able to say "YES, this affidavit was executed improperly, AND the information contained within is FALSE.  My client DOES NOT owe the money to the bank!"

People owe money, and they owe a lot.  Period.

Let me clue you in on something:  Banks are in this for the money.  They're doing this for profit.  They didn't loan you $120K out of the goodness of their hearts, they did it because you signed a mortgage agreeing to pay 7% interest over 30 years and that makes the bank A LOT of money.  And you know when the bank makes the most amount of money?

When you make your payments on time for 30 years.

Obviously, if you're not making your payment, they're not making money.  If they have to foreclose on you, they're not making money.  Even when real estate values were going up, banks STILL LOST MONEY when they had to resell the houses.  They've lost interest, and have incurred thousands of dollars in costs to the foreclosure attorney, eviction attorney, maintenance company, real estate agent, tax collector, etc.

And now?  When values are still doing down?  Banks are losing money hand over fist. They don't WANT to foreclose on you.  But when you haven't made your mortgage payment in over a year, there really is no other choice.

And oh, by the way, that mortgage you signed?  It gives the bank the right to do it.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not absolving the banks of any responsibility for the fiasco the US Economy is in right now.   The banks did wrong, with all this mortgage backed securities, bundling, sub prime lending the works.

But guess what, America?  So did you.  So did you when you used your house as an ATM machine and refinanced 8 times in 3 years, each time taking out cash to pay for your fancy cars and vacations.  So did you when you bought a house you couldn't afford.  So did you when you didn't read the mortgage you signed telling you it was an adjustable rate note, and you didn't budget appropriately for when the payment was going to change.

Many, many people have suffered hardships.  Many people have lost their jobs, had medical issues and suffered bad things happening in their lives.  Those people need help, and should have been helped with any means the bank had at their disposal.

But to the gentleman who came to a borrower outreach event, and told me that I couldn't foreclose on him because then he would have to live in his Lexus?  Watch me resist the urge to roll my eyes.

And go trade in that Lexus for a used Ford.