FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
January 31, 2013
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
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AG STRANGE ANNOUNCES $120 MILLION MULTI-STATE
SETTLEMENT WITH LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES, INC.
(MONTGOMERY)–Attorney General Luther Strange today announced that his
office, 44 other Attorneys General and the District of Columbia, have reached a $120
million multi-state settlement with Lender Processing Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries,
LPS Default Solutions and DocX.
The proposed consent judgment resolves allegations that the Jacksonville-based
company, which primarily provides technological support to banks and mortgage loan
servicers, “robo-signed” documents and engaged in other improper conduct related to
mortgage loan default servicing. When entered by the court, the judgment would
require LPS and its subsidiaries to reform its business practices and, if necessary, to
correct documents it executed to assist the homeowner.
Alabama’s share of settlement is approximately $1,039,078 to be used by the State
for consumer protection purposes. The lawsuit and proposed consent judgment are
being filed today in the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
“I am pleased that this settlement will set high standards for proper servicing of
mortgages and will protect consumers from harm that could result from potentially
abusive practices,” said Attorney General Strange. “This agreement provides important
safeguards and provides a process to seek remedy for erroneous actions that may have
occurred.”
Among other things, the consent judgment will require proper execution of
documents and prohibit signature by unauthorized persons or those without first-hand
knowledge of facts attested to in the documents, enhanced oversight of the default
services provided, and a review of all third-party fees to ensure that the fees have been
earned and are reasonable and accurate. The settlement also accomplishes the
following:
prohibits LPS (including DOCX) from engaging in the practice of surrogate signing of
documents;
ensures that LPS has proper authority to sign documents on behalf of a servicer, if in fact
it is signing documents;
requires LPS to accurately identify the authority that the signer has to execute the
document and where that signer works;
501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us Page 2 of 2
prohibits LPS from notarizing documents outside the presence of a notary and ensures
that notarizations will comply with applicable laws;
prohibits LPS from improperly interfering with the attorney-client relationship between
attorneys and services;
prohibits LPS from incentivizing or promoting attorney speed or volume to the
detriment of accuracy;
requires LPS to ensure that foreclosure and bankruptcy counsel or trustees can
communicate directly with the servicer;
requires LPS to have enhanced oversight and review of processes over third parties it
manages, including those entities that perform property preservation services;
prohibits LPS from imposing unreasonable mark-ups or other fees on third party
providers’ default or foreclosure-related services;
requires LPS to establish and maintain a toll-free phone number for consumers
concerning document execution and property preservation services (including
winterization, inspection, preservation, and maintenance); and
requires LPS to modify mortgage documents that require remediation when LPS has
legal authority to do so and when reasonably necessary to assist a consumer or when
required by state or local laws.
In the proposed settlement, LPS stipulates to important facts uncovered in the
investigation, including the practice by DocX of so-called “surrogate signing,” the
signing of documents by an unauthorized person in the name of another and notarizing
those documents as if they had been signed by the proper person, as well as other
improprieties in the document execution and recordation or filing process.
Once the judgment is entered by the courts, LPS will undertake a review of
documents executed during the period of January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2010, to
determine what documents, if any, need to be re-executed or corrected. If LPS is
authorized to make the corrections, it will do so and will make periodic reports to the
Attorney General of the status of its review and/or modification of documents.
The following states joined Alabama in today’s settlement: Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as the District of
Columbia.
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