Local Attorneys Support Moratorium on Foreclosures

WASHINGTON - Sari Kurland is one busy attorney. She fights for homeowners in trouble and isn't surprised by the documentation problems popping up at every major lender right now.

"Too many of our clients who should have been offered a modification hasn’t been because a file's been closed improperly,” said Kurland.

She has an idea why: "It's easier to close it than to work it, and make that modification happen, and we're frustrated, really frustrated."

Already, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Ally Financial have admitted their executives signed off on thousands of foreclosure documents without reading them.

Paul Leonard, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable, says sloppy signatures don't change the underlying facts.

"Are the facts of the case that the person was eight months behind on their payments could not afford the modification or failed the modification … does that home need to go to foreclosure?" he postulated. "But the judge needs the confidence to say, okay, these documents show that."

Because of that lack of confidence, Maryland is now one of 40 states calling for a 60-day moratorium on foreclosures.

Kurland, who says she and her partner have a 90 percent success rate in getting their clients modified, is pleased.

"I'm glad. I'm happy to see that there's an opportunity for mortgage companies to stop and reevaluate." she said.

Leonard says the banks are helping homeowners, according to federal HAMP guidelines they must follow.

"There's been a million and three mods done since the beginning of this year, close to 3.7 million since 2007," he pointed out.

Still, the national outcry is threatening to bring the whole foreclosure system to a halt. While that may give troubled homeowners more time, it could also delay the much needed housing recovery.