Lenders Must Prove Ownership of Foreclosures
Courts are cracking down on lenders that introduce foreclosure proceedings without having proof of ownership.
It has long been a common practice for lenders to do this, since tracking the documentation of ownership is challenging because of securitization, or the pooling of mortgages into trusts that are subsequently sold to investors.
A recent study of 1,733 foreclosures by Katherine M. Porter, an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa, found that 40 percent of the creditors foreclosing on borrowers did not show proof of ownership.
Source: The New York Times, by Gretchen Morgenson (11/17/07)
