JPMorgan Chase Halts 55,000-Plus Foreclosures Amid Robo-Signer Probe

JP Morgan Chase has announced that it is stopping approximately 55,000 foreclosures in order to review how employees in its foreclosure operations sign affidavits about loan documents and review these documents for errors. A recent court document of a Chase employee in the company's foreclosure department noted that the department signed off on more than 18,000 foreclosure-related documents in any given month, including affidavits of indebtedness.  Chase's foreclosure freeze come on the heels of GMAC Mortgage, a unit of Ally Financial Inc., held up foreclosures in 23 states to deal with their own "robo-signer" issues. GMAC has come under heavy scrutiny this week, being called out by several state attorneys general for their actions, seeking an explanation of their foreclosure process and just who is signing their foreclosure-related documents. GMAC has been called out, in particular over the past week, by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. For more information, visit www.jpmorganchase.com.