Judge Kills Foreclosure Over Law Firm's Late Verifications, Speculates re 'Conflicted Robosigner'
A New York judge has dismissed a mortgage foreclosure case, with prejudice, because of a well-known law firm’s delay in submitting to the court verifications that it took reasonable steps to check the accuracy of documents filed on the lender’s behalf.
The verifications, which have been routinely required in foreclosure cases since 2010, were not forthcoming from Rosicki Rosicki & Associates even after Justice Arthur Schack gave the firm, in late July, an additional 60 days to make the filings in the Brooklyn case. So, more than four months later, he axed the case, writing that “failure to comply with court-ordered time frames must be taken seriously,” Reuters reports.
In his order, Schack speculated that the law firm’s foot-dragging was due to its client’s use of a “conflicted robosigner.”
However, a spokesman for U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of lender U.S. Bank, said it did nothing wrong and intends to appeal Schack’s ruling.
“The allegation of ‘robosigning’ is false and inflammatory,” said spokesman Tim Joyce in an email to the news agency. U.S. Bank, he said, does not use outside entities to sign its mortgage documents.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Meet Judge Arthur Schack, Foreclosure Watchdog”
ABAJournal.com: “NY Foreclosure Law Firm Settles with Feds for $2M; Deal Creates ‘Howls of Protest’”
