John O’Brien, the Southern Essex District Register of Deeds in Massachusetts, refused yesterday to accept two documents he considered to be signed by “robo-signers”. O’Brien refused two documents signed by Linda Green, a name that appears on nearly 300 other mortgage documents already on file at the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds and on thousands of other mortgage documents being filed around the country.
O’Brien stated, “My Registry will not be a knowing participant in this fraud against homeowners. From today forward, lenders be on notice, the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds will not record robo-signed documents.”
Looks like this is policy is catching on quickly. Guilford County, North Carolina Register of Deeds, Jeff Thigpen, joined O’Brien in refusing to accept such documents and issued a press release stating, “The basic question here is whether we as Recorders are going to sit on our hands, in the face of what appears to be clear fraud or are we going to stand up for 400 years of integrity and fair dealing in commerce? John [O'Brien] is on the right side of this question and these are reasonable actions. If we are ever going to return to basic fundamentals in our financial services system, now has to be time and we have a vital role to play.”
This is great news for borrowers and homeowners. Hopefully, this trend spreads quickly throughout Massachusetts and the country.
You can read more about it here and here.
Click here for the press release.
