New York City and state have suffered massive mortgage-document fraud, with damages potentially exceeding $100 million.
That’s the explosive allegation by whistleblower Lynn Szymoniak and her legal team, whose lawsuit against two-dozen major banks and mortgage servicers alleging violations of the False Claims Act has just been unsealed.
“Almost every mortgage-backed security issued from 2004 to 2007 bought by New York state and City is tainted by fraudulent mortgage documents,” Szymoniak, a Florida-based attorney and fraud expert, told The Post.
Now that the lawsuit has been unsealed, Szymoniak and her lawyers are gunning to bring big banks and mortgage servicers — including Chase Home Finance, Ally Financial, CitiMortgage, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Bank of America Mortgage Securities — to trial in US District Court in South Carolina.
The suit alleges widespread creation and use of fraudulent mortgage documents, which reduced the value of mortgage-backed securities New York City and state bought.
Without admitting wrongdoing, Wells Fargo, Ally, Bank of America, Chase and Citi settled part of Szymoniak’s suit for $95 million in 2012, as part of a $25 billion national mortgage settlement.
Szymoniak noted that in 2006 alone, privately issued mortgages were packaged and sold into 1,126 investment trusts, most of which had an average total loan balance of more than $1 billion.
In the coming weeks, Szymoniak and her lawyers will try to determine exactly which mortgage-backed securities were purchased by New York City and state.
The case is complex, and, while it’s tough to estimate at this point how much financial harm New York state and City have suffered, Szymoniak’s attorney Reuben Guttman said damages could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The [$95 million] settlement is the tip of the iceberg,” said Guttman.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Wells Fargo, Citi and Chase declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesman said, “We believe the remaining claims are without merit and will seek dismissal.”
An Ally spokeswoman said the bank “did not participate in any of the securitizations which are the subject of the plaintiff’s complaint.”