For the big banks, another nail in the foreclosure coffin: The Portland Business Journal reports today:
“Oregon Attorney General John Kroger announced Wednesday that Oregon will join with other U.S. states to investigate faulty foreclosures. The 50-state probe will be conducted by state attorneys general, and bank and mortgage regulators.”
This is a good thing. Previously, it appeared there was a belief that since Oregon is a non-judicial foreclosure state, we weren’t at risk of being a victim of the bogus document signing scandals. That is not necessarily the case, as our Attorney General seems to believe, as well. First, even in Oregon, MERS (as “nominee” for the banks) has foreclosed homes in its own name. Some federal court judges have recently challenged MERS’ standing to do so. Secondly, the robo-signing of documents that occurred throughout the country, may not have been confined only to judicial foreclosure states. Documents, such as powers of attorney and beneficiary assignments used in some Oregon trust deed foreclosures, may have been bogus here as well. So, kudos to our Attorney General.
