Foreclosure class-action lawsuits picking up nationwide

Class-action lawsuits against large banks active in residential mortgage lending are on the rise, according to a National Law Journal article published online. Similar suits have been filed against J.P. Morgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Ally Financial (GJM). And more are expected as delinquent homeowners fight foreclosures and investors fight to recoup money from securitized problem mortgages. The rise of these lawsuits is just the latest news in a foreclosure scandal that broke nationwide after an employee of Ally Financial admitted that he signed thousands of foreclosure documents without reading them. Since then, several robo-signing issues have popped up, including the revelation that some affidavits filed in courts have been faulty. Lawsuits against Ally have been filed in Florida and Maine, the article said. Other class actions involving robo-signing  have been filed in federal courts in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey. At least 19 states, including Iowa and Texas, are conducting separate investigations to determine whether state laws were broken, the article said. In addition, all 50 attorneys general are investigating robo-signing issues in a matter being led by Iowa AG Tom Miller. Lame duck Ohio AG Richard Cordray, the first AG to go after Ally Financial in the courts, filed a lawsuit in early October. The company denies any intentional wrongdoing. The National Law Journal article did not say how many class action foreclosure lawsuits are currently pending in the nation’s courtrooms. Sarah Mueller is an editorial assistant with HousingWire.