Effective immediately, attorneys for plaintiffs in New York State foreclosure proceedings, will be required to sign an affirmation that they have reviewed the documents related to the case. Per Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, they must certify, " under penalty of perjury", that they personally reviewed the documents and verified with a bank employee, that must be named with a date given for the conversation, that all the records have been reviewed and are correct.
After making this review and "other diligent inquiry," they must attest that "to the best of my knowledge information and belief, the Summons and Complaint and all other documents filed in support of this action for foreclosure are complete and accurate in all relevant respects."
From the sample affirmation
N.B.: During and after August 2010, numerous and widespread insufficiencies in foreclosure filings in various courts around the nation were reported by major mortgage lenders and other authorities. These insufficiencies include: failure of plaintiffs and their counsel to review documents and files to establish standing and other foreclosure requisites; filing of notarized affidavits which falsely attest to such review and to other critical facts in the foreclosure process; and "robosignature" of documents by parties and counsel. The wrongful filing and prosecution of foreclosure proceedings which are discovered to suffer from these defects may be cause for disciplinary and other sanctions upon participating counsel.
From Chief Justice Lippman's statement
"The wrongful filing and prosecution of foreclosure proceedings which are discovered to suffer from these defects may be cause for disciplinary and other sanctions upon participating counsel," the court system warns.
"I think this makes clear to everybody the court system's absolute commitment that we are not going to allow anything to interfere with the integrity of the court process," said Judge Lippman.
<snip>
"We want to make sure that everyone is focusing like a laser on these particular types of proceedings," he said. "It puts them on notice. That's what this is all about. We all have to make doubly sure that we are doing what we should be doing in the first place."
http://www.law.com/...
This will affect not only new cases but all of the nearly 78,000 foreclosure cases currently working their way through the New York state courts.
For new cases, the affirmation would have to be included for the file to be complete. For pending cases—which can be at any point between the initial filing and the final ruling—the new affirmation is required before the judge's final signature on the decision.
Once an order is signed, the affirmation would be required before an auction sale of the property is held.
I think I love this judge
"We feel we have an obligation to make sure the attorneys do their due diligence and come to us with credible papers because the consequences [of wrongful foreclosures] are so great," Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said in an interview, adding that the new filing requirement is the first in the nation.
<snip>
"we cannot allow the courts in New York State to stand by idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process."
Stephen P. Younger, President of the New York Bar Association
"the chief judge has taken swift steps to address a nationwide problem in foreclosure actions. The New York State Bar Association applauds any effort to preserve and maintain the integrity of the foreclosure process."
Of course, not everyone is happy about this. Joshua Stein, a Manhattan Real Estate attorney and chair of the education committee for the Mortgage Bankers Association thinks this will slow down the process and wonder what the "unintended consequences" will be. I supposed letting banks railroad flawed foreclosure paperwork through the courts and expecting them to be rubber stamped didn't result in any "unintended consequences" he cared about.
In my view, till now, the rule of law and due process had been sacrificed in the name of expediency and efficiency. The resulting fraud has been well documented in various stellar diaries here. I for one have to thank Judge Lippman for instilling some hope in me that people won't just be considered guilty without recourse when facing the power of the banks. At least in the state of New York. I can only hope that this action is emulated across the country.
Cheers for the Rule of Law!