LPS Foreclosure Fraud Whistleblower Found Dead (Updated) « naked capitalism

The story about the robo signing and fraud committed by banks continues to get more and more interesting.  The death of Nevada Notary Tracy Lawrence could be completely innocent and as a result of natural causes but the timing of her death has to make most reasonable people raise an eyebrow.

Here is the original article from Naked Capitalism and written by Yves Smith:  It is a great read as is the chatter to follow from other readers. 

Nevada notary Tracy Lawrence, who was due to be sentenced today to up to a year in jail for a single count of misdemeanor fraud, went missing from her sentencing hearing today and was found dead. Per the Associated Press (hat tip reader Scott):

Las Vegas police say it could be weeks before investigators know how 43-year-old Tracy Lawrence died.

Her body was found about 11:30 a.m. Monday at her Las Vegas apartment.
Police Sgt. Matt Sanford says there’s no apparent sign of foul play, and coroner toxicology tests could take up to eight weeks.
Lawrence would have faced up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine earlier Monday for her guilty plea Nov. 17 to one criminal charge of notarizing the signature of a person not in her presence.
KSNV-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/vWSDtv) that Lawrence admitted notarizing tens of thousands of fraudulent documents as part of a wider foreclosure fraud scheme.

Reader Peter W fills in the blank (pun intended) that Lawrence’s document chicanery involved the staff of Lender Processing Services. The version of the story posted at The Fly on the Wall has as its final sentence:

Lawrence had earlier admitted to notarizing “tens of thousands of fraudulent documents” as part of a wider foreclosure fraud scheme involving employees of Lender Processing Services (LPS).

As sad as this is for Lawrence’s friend and family, the more the foot soliders of foreclosure abuses start to face real costs, meaning jail time, the harder it will become to perpetrate these sorts of frauds. That is the way the law is supposed to work, after all.
Update: Holy moley, the initial press reports omitted the key fact: it was Lawrence who turned Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto on to two mid level LPS employees who face up to 30 years in jail each if found guilty. From MSNBC:

Lawrence came forward earlier this month and blew the whistle on the operation, in which title officers Gary Trafford, 49, of Irvine, Calif., and Geraldine Sheppard, 62, of Santa Ana, Calif. — who worked for a Florida processing company used by most major banks to process repossessions — allegedly forged signatures on tens of thousands of default notices from 2005 to 2008.
Trafford and Sheppard were charged two weeks ago with 606 counts of offering false instruments for recording, false certification on certain instruments and notarization of the signature of a person not in the presence of a notary public. You can read a .pdf version of their indictment here.

Our post on this case, which includes the indictment, is here.
Needless to say, this puts a very different complexion on things..

LPS Foreclosure Fraud Whistleblower Found Dead (Updated) « naked capitalism

Nevada AG trying to restore trust and faith in government single handedly.

 Here is a portion of an article posted today on Naked Capitalism detailing the steps Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto has taken to try and hold the major banks accountable for their rampant practice of fraud and their explicit role in the housing crisis.  It is amazing that only one AG has figured out a way to bring fraud charges against anyone of the banks or their major players.  It is as if Masto is the only AG that is not in the bank pocket so to speak and who is not willing to let the banks get away with raping and pillaging the public.  Everyone one else from the White House to the entire Congress have been willing to turn a blind eye to the facts and to fail to protect the interests of the American people.  Masto should be commended for her courage and dedication to seeking the truth when all others were bought off.  The other politicians have acted in their own self interest with little regard for what has truly gone on in financing industry. 

Masto is showing true courage as a leader by taking on the establishment of old money and crony capitalism.  We can only hope that other AGs will find the fortitude to stand up and do what is right rather act so cheaply. 

Masto has been by far the most aggressive AG on the civil side, suing Bank of America for multiple violations of a consent order on mortgage servicing, and even making the dreaded nuclear chain of title claim on foreclosures. It’s no surprise she’s taking the lead on criminal matters. Given that her office basically has no native resources or sector expertise in mortgage backed securities, it does make me wonder just what every other AG in the country and DOJ official is doing now that she’s proved bringing charges for fraud is not in fact impossible.
At this point, Masto has gone further than any other official in terms of restoring some sort of social contract. And that’s saying something. Leadership can come from anywhere, especially when the corruption seems to be everywhere. And with California AG Kamala Harris putting immense pressure on Fannie/Freddie on foreclosures, it suggests the tide is turning on this issue somewhat.
Our essential economic problem is that our economy allocates resources through a mediating system of banks that are broken and/or corrupt. If you look at a chart of the recession, and then the recovery, you’ll notice that business investment perked up, but residential investment did not. The Fed lowered rates, bought Treasury bonds, and bought mortgage backed securities to lower rates for homeowners. But it’s not really working, because the monetary channel is corrupt. This indictment gets to that problem, it alleges tens of thousands of forged documents (or as a friend told me sarcastically, an afternoon’s worth of work for LPS). These documents represent foreclosures, economic loss, and clouded title. The indictments handed down, and the ones to come, show that corrupting our property laws and the basis of our economy is a crime.

READ the rest here