Chicago Sheriff Thomas Dart: 95% of Chicago’s Foreclosures Do Not Have Proper Paperwork

[Better Believe It]

Sheriff Dart: 95% of Chicago’s Foreclosures Do Not Have Proper Paperwork
By: emptywheel
November 15, 2010

The Washington Post has a story on the growing realization that the banksters have been engaging in massive fraud to keep churning out foreclosures. It includes a detail about Chicago Sheriff Thomas Dart’s refusal to enforce foreclosures I did not know: that when he had a sample of foreclosures reviewed, he found that only five percent of them had all their paperwork in order.

After reading about problems such as banks “robo-signing” foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy, Dart asked that attorneys for mortgage companies sign something personally confirming that evictions are justified. None did. So Dart has refused to honor their requests.

In Illinois, Dart said in an interview that, after hearing about improperly prepared paperwork at major lenders, he and his deputies pulled an admittedly unscientific sample of 400 foreclosure cases processed by the courts. He said they found that only 20 of them had the proper paperwork and that the others were missing “very significant” documents.

While not carrying out evictions could land Dart in trouble if a judge decides to bring contempt-of-court charges, he said he thinks his actions have been “just and legal.”

“When I have the lending institutions themselves admitting to problems, what are we supposed to do?” Dart said. “All I’m asking them to do is certify that what they are doing is legal. The fact that they are not racing to do this makes the case for us.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111107518.html

One of the biggest problems communicating the problems the deadbeat banksters have introduced through their own shoddy or fraudulent work lies in explaining the scope of the problem. And while the numbers Chicago found may be worse than other places — with a very high population of people of color, after all, it would have been a target for predatory lending — I’m happy using the 5% number a law enforcement officer has provided in the interim.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/11/15/sheriff-dart-5-of-chicagos-foreclosures-dont-have-problems/

[ixion]

1. His actions are correct. It's the judge(s) who have screwed up

and they should lose they seat because of it.

[marmar]

2. This is a clusterf**k of cataclysmic proportions.....

nt

[pipoman]

3. It is the role of

the sheriff to serve the courts orders not argue their legality, that is the role of the judge and the lawyers. Once the judge has issued an order the sheriff must enforce it. The sheriff is overstepping his bounds. If he is a lawyer and wants to do this type of work he should resign as sheriff and go pro bono, if he isn't a lawyer then he has no authority or standing to evaluate the validity of an order issued by the courts.

I am sure he will be lauded a hero here, but he should and likely will be ordered to do his job or be charged with contempt.

[The Uncola]

6. Yeah...

.. demonize anyone who stands for the People and not for the banksters. Fuck the courts. Fuck the predatory banksters that VIOLATED the law.

[pipoman]

8. So do you like all

sheriffs who violate the law 'for the greater good', or do you take it on a case by case basis?





Oh, and don't kid yourself, big city/county sheriffs are political creatures who pull stunts to gain political ground.

[DCKit]

4. Sheriff Dart will never have to stand before a jury of his peers and state...

"I was only following orders."

[Tatiana]

5. This is an admirable stand, but he is probably going to face contempt-of-court.

My question is, if it was this easy for Dart's office to determine the shoddy/missing foreclosure paperwork, why the hell couldn't the courts see this? Or are the judges just roboruling in the banks' favor?

[Better Believe It]

7. The judges don't want to get the banksters angry. Their job is to represent the banks interests.

It's all about class.