Hold on: Cook County restarting foreclosure evictions next week

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart will restart foreclosure evictions as early as next week after the Illinois state Attorney General’s office notified him he must enforce all evictions signed by a judge. Dart put a freeze on foreclosure evictions Oct. 13 after major lenders began reviewing affidavits allegedly signed without properly reviewing the files. On Thursday, his office told HousingWire that the eviction hold could last several months, but Illinois state AG Lisa Madigan’s office told Dart’s office once a judge signs an eviction notice, it is considered valid and an attempt must be made. However, Dart is sending several cases to his financial crimes unit to investigate whether lenders or their agents engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices. Loyola University School of Law has agreed to work with Dart’s office to comb through the 2,200 foreclosure eviction orders signed by Cook County judges. Dart’s staff has already found 70% of court documents in a sample size appear to be allegedly robo-signed. Bank of America (BAC) started refiling new affidavits Oct. 25. A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said they have not started refiling and will do so state-by-state. The process should take three to four months. Ally Financial (GJM) said it will move forward with a foreclosure in the 23 judicial states, including Illinois, when it has reviewed and remediated the affidavit. Write to Jon Prior.

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