Business

Federal judge took Wells Fargo to task over loan filings

A federal judge in New York blasted mega-bank Wells Fargo for submitting a “fraudulent” foreclosure document to the court under penalty of perjury, according to a hearing transcript.

Robert Drain, a US Bankruptcy Judge in White Plains, slammed the bank at a March 1, 2012, hearing that was part of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy case of Westchester resident Cynthia Carssow Franklin.

Earlier this month, Carssow Franklin’s attorney, Linda Tirelli, put forward an emergency request to reopen the discovery phase of the trial in light of the existence of two watershed documents: a Wells Fargo Foreclosure Attorney Procedures Manual, and a foreclosure-paperwork order form on Wells Fargo letterhead.

The Post broke the story on March 12 of Tirelli’s allegations in court papers that the manual provides detailed internal procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand, and that the order form records an improper request for a note endorsement after a bankruptcy case had already started.

Wells Fargo denies these allegations.

Carssow Franklin filed for bankruptcy in New York in 2010 to save her Texas home from foreclosure by Wells Fargo.

“I believe this evidence helps my case,” Carssow Franklin says of the manual.

“It’s been a terrible experience [with Wells Fargo], and it just never ends. … I feel like they’ve ruined my life.”

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the bank prefers not to comment on pending litigation, adding that Wells “has and will continue to abide by sound processes that ensure we comply with the law.”

At issue in Carssow Franklin’s case are the assignment of mortgage and endorsement of the note, documents that transfer ownership when a loan is sold.

It’s the kind of paperwork that makes non-lawyers’ eyes glaze over, but these documents have to be accurate to prove Wells Fargo’s right to foreclose.

In July 2010, represented by now-defunct foreclosure-mill law firm Steven J. Baum, Wells Fargo filed a proof of claim.

Wells included an assignment of mortgage listing Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems as nominee for Washington Mutual Bank.

It was signed by John Kennerty as assistant secretary of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. as nominee for Washington Mutual Bank.

The claim also contained an endorsement payable to ABN Amro Mortgage Group from Mortgage Factory.

Tirelli challenged the endorsement, and questioned how Kennerty could have transferred a Washington Mutual asset in 2010, since the bank failed in September 2008.

Wells then submitted an amended proof of claim with a second endorsement in blank.