Georgia Woman Faces 20 Years for "Robo-Signing" Scheme

The name “Linda Green” sounds ordinary enough to fly under the radar, and that’s just what it did as it appeared on thousands of mortgage-related documents across the United States. The only notable distinction on the documents was a variation in the handwriting.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette has charged Lorraine O’Reilly Brown, the former president of DocX and the woman behind the mortgage document “robo-signing” scheme with racketeering – a felony charge with the potential to bring Brown a 20-year sentence.

From 2006 to 2009, Brown instructed her employees to fraudulently sign various bank officials’ names (e.g. Linda Green) on mortgage documents, which resulted in quicker document processing and more money for Brown and her company. Workers at DocX allegedly forged close to a million signatures on home mortgage documents, and while the scheme may have begun in Georgia, Michigan officials discovered over 1,000 fraudulent signatures on mortgages in their own state. As Brown and DocX workers produced these fraudulent signatures, banks have used such “robo-signed” documents in order to initiate improper foreclosures.

Attorney General Schuette was one of 49 state attorneys who entered into a $25 billion settlement with five of the largest U.S. banks over improper foreclosure processes and mortgage services. As a result of the settlement, Michigan will receive over $760 million, $97 million of which will go towards Michigan’s new Homeowner Protection Fund – signed recently into law in order to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and assist law enforcement in putting an end to deceptive practices.

If you have questions about fraudulent conduct, contact Fausone Bohn, LLP at (248) 380-0000.

To learn more and see the original article, please visit: http://www.freep.com/article/20121126/BUSINESS/121126038/Michigan-AG-announces-racketeering-charged-forged-signature-case