A number of banks began delaying foreclosures last fall once investigations into their foreclosure practices started. And now that they are close to reaching a settlement with the federal government, some of them are resuming foreclosures. HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Finance Corp. have stated they are resuming home seizures in New York State and eleven other markets.
Last December, HSBC along with other mortgage lenders put foreclosures on hold while they evaluated the process and now they believe that they have addressed previous issues and will begin clearing their backlog of troubled homes.
The investigation found that banks allowed homes to be wrongfully foreclosed either through forgery of documents or people, who signed documents they had not even read. A foreclosure attorney can assist these individuals by challenging the banks decision in court.
In many instances banks were guilty of allowing employees to sign thousands of foreclosure documents claiming they had knowledge of properties they did not actually own, hence the term robosigning. These documents were often not even reviewed. Any person facing eviction may be able to keep their homes by retaining a foreclosure lawyer.
HSBC aid they were addressing deficiencies in their foreclosure process, which were identified by federal investigators. Major mortgage lenders face heavy fines and penalties, estimated at close to $20 million once the investigation is concluded.
Most of the major banks have resumed seizure of troubled homes and attempting to clear their backlog. All of these homeowners have the option of hiring a foreclosure attorney to prevent them from being evicted.
