http://www.mfi-miami.com/2011/04/foreclosure-fraud-operation-uncovered-at-detroit-law-firm-with-ties-to-mi-gop/Foreclosure
Fraud Operation Uncovered At Detroit Law Firm With Ties To MI GOP
Steve
Dibert, MFI-Miami Exclusive
Several months ago, the major banks sounded
the all clear signal regarding robo-signing in non-judicial foreclosure states,
namely Michigan and Massachusetts. It appears those claims of non-exist
robo-signing were either greatly exaggerated or were overly
optimistic.
MFI-Miami has uncovered evidence of forged documents drafted
and signed by attorneys and employees at Orlans Associates at their corporate
offices in Troy, Michigan. These fraudulent documents will impact tens of
thousands of foreclosures done by Ally Financial, Bank of America, Deutsche
Bank, JPMorgan-Chase, Fannie Mae and others in Michigan and Massachusetts over
the past five years and makes the investigation being done by Ingham County
Register of Deeds, Curtis Hertel, Jr. and Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard into
the robo-signing of Linda Green at the now defunct DocX look like a kindergarten
production of the movie, The Firm.
Dont get me wrong, Im glad Michigan
politicians are looking into this. However, mortgage activists around the
country have known about Linda Greens many different signatures for nearly two
years now. Matter of fact, the robo-signing scandal that got the attention of Mr
Hertel and Mr. Bullard had already brought down one major foreclosure law firm
in Florida. The Law Offices Of David J. Stern closed their doors last month
after his firm was fired by the major lenders for robo-signing. A second firm,
Ben-Ezra & Katz is teetering on verge of collapse. Four other firms in
Florida are under investigation by the Florida Attorney General and by the FBI.
The Law Firm of Steven J. Baum in New York is under investigation by the New
York Attorney Generals office with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
threatening criminal charges.
Lender Processing Services, the parent
company of Linda Greens former employer is under investigation by both the
Florida Attorney General and the federal government. National Title Clearing,
LPSs competitor, also out of Florida is also under investigation after video
depositions of their employees admitting to Robo-signing were blasted all over
the web. Unfortunately, Michigan politicians apparently had their head in the
sand for the past four years are going to be left with the table scraps. States
like Florida, Ohio,Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, who were at the
forefront of this fight were the first ones to the buffet table of foreclosure
fraud and now will be the first to pick a prize.
How motivated Republican
Michigan Attorney General Bill Shuette will be to launch an investigation into
the activities at Orlans Associates remains to be seen. Linda Orlans has deep
pockets. She owns a $4 million home in the one of the wealthiest communities in
the mid-west and has contributed quite generously to the Michigan Republican
Party by giving them $10,000 last year alone and between her and her daughter,
Alison who is CEO of Orlans title operations and their Virginia law firm
Atlantic Law Group, gave former Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson $7200 for
Johnsons successful campaign for Michigan Secretary of State. The money she gave
to the Michigan GOP indirectly helped fund Bill Shuettes campaign for Attorney
General and other Republican candidates including Governor Rick Snyder,
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert
Young.
Linda Orlans' $4 million home at 790 Lakeside Dr., Birmingham,
MI.
She's livin' large thanks in part to foreclosure fraud.
I began this
investigation after Oakland County Judge Martha Anderson refused to hear claims
of attorney misconduct in the Lynne Lucas case. I admit I was pretty ticked. I
wasnt angry because Judge Anderson ruled against Lynne Lucas who has cancer but
because Judge Anderson is clearly prejudiced against homeowners because it
appeared she handed down a scripted verdict that was written several weeks
before the hearing.
Lucas attorney, William Maxwell and I already knew
there was a signature issue with an affidavit in the case. So, I began a pulling
random samples of affidavits and mortgage assignments allegedly signed by
Attorney Marshall R. Isaacs (Michigan Bar #P41142). As you may recall from
previous articles, his signature on the post-foreclosure purchase affidavit in
the Lucas case did not match the signature to the mortgage to his house and this
led to me filing a Request For Investigation with the Michigan Attorney
Grievance Commission against Linda Orlans, Marshall R. Isaacs and Timothy Myers,
all attorneys at Orlans Associates.
What my title researchers, Suzie
Baker in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Mike Dillon in New Hampshire found was
shocking. Of the 13 affidavits and mortgage assignments we found in the Michigan
counties of Benzie, Delta, St. Joseph, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne, there are
about nine variations the signature of Marshall R. Isaacs that do not match the
mortgage to his house. I expected to see one or two variations of Isaacs
signature but not nine.
In all of these cases, the notary claims they
witnessed Marshall R. Isaacs sign these documents. Each variation of Isaacs
signature also has its own specific notary stamp. For example if you look at the
the signatures that look like the letter N with a loop, these are notarized by
Annette A. Matthews. Annette Matthews apparently has three different signatures
as well. The signatures that are one big loop are both notarized by Andrew A.
Collins. This particular style is what appears on the post-foreclosure
purchasers affidavit in the Lucas case.
The Many Signatures of Marshall
R. Isaacs
Mike Dillon found a mortgage assignment Marshall Isaacs signed
on behalf of MERS assigning a mortgage to BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP in
Middlesex County, Massachusetts where half the signature is not legible. The
half that is legible makes it clear it is not Marshall Isaacs
signature.
Scan 0022
This is not the first time Orlans Associates
have been caught violating the law. Several months ago, Orlans along with
Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were forced to pay an undisclosed settlement to
a Michigan National Guardsman because they violated of the Servicemembers Civil
Relief Act, by illegally foreclosing on his home and evicted his wife and
children while he was dodging IEDs in Iraq.
Orlans Associates in Detroit
and their sister company in Boston, Orlans-Moran handle foreclosures in four
states, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Virginia with
all the processing being done out of their Troy, Michigan location. Their major
clients include Ally Financial formerly known as GMAC, American Home Mortgage
Servicing, BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac, Key Bank and Morgan Stanley who owns Saxon Mortgage. The
managing partner of Orlans Associates, Linda Orlans started a title insurance
company several years ago named eTitle which operates out of the same offices in
Troy, Michigan as her law firm. She also started a foreclosure auction house
named Towne Auction, which handles foreclosure auctions in Massachusetts, New
Hampshire and Rhode Island. In 2009, Orlans purchased the assets of Atlantic Law
Group in Leesburg, Virginia with Linda Orlans daughter Alison as
CEO.
Foreclosure law firms like Orlans and their cross town rivals, Trott
& Trott have followed the business model of other foreclosure mills across
the country by starting or buying title companies so they could hide any
assignment issues such as forged assignments and affidavits from the public. The
theory was that the quicker they could removed someone from a home the less
likely it was that anyone would notice that fraud was being
committed.
The next hurdle in solving this mess is finding enough
politicians with the testicular fortitude to take on someone like Linda Orlans.
If there are any politicians out there willing to take on Linda Orlans, call me.
I have your back.
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