Fannie Mae pursues borrowers for foreclosure losses in 'robo-signer redux'
Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae is pursuing borrowers for its foreclosure losses in Florida, where a new law required the deficiency suits to be filed by July 1 of this year.
Fannie Mae is seeking to recover the difference between the amount owed on foreclosed properties and the amount collected when the foreclosed property was sold, the New York Times reports. The problem, the story says, is that many of the foreclosures may have been based on documents “robo-signed” by mortgage officials without proof of accuracy.
“Robo-signer redux, as it might be called, has come about because of an aggressive pursuit of former borrowers by debt collectors hired by Fannie Mae,” the story says.
Jacksonville lawyer Chip Parker of Parker & DuFresne told the Times he has 60 cases in which Fannie Mae is seeking deficiency judgments against borrowers when foreclosure documents were handled by robo-signers.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are seeking deficiency judgments against borrowers after foreclosure, though Fannie Mae appears most aggressive, Reuters reported last month. The cases are reportedly surging in Illinois and Ohio, as well as Florida.
Fannie Mae spokesman Andrew Wilson told Reuters the agency is focusing on “strategic defaulters” who could have paid their mortgages but didn’t do so.
