Bank of America, JPMorgan, GMAC Evictions Held Up by Sheriff in Chicago
Foreclosure evictions by Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC will be suspended next week in Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Dart said today he is halting evictions until he receives assurances that they are legal. His decision, effective Oct. 25, affects about 1,500 pending cases, he said.
“I need them to tell me that everything was done properly,” Dart said at a press conference, referring to the lenders. He is demanding affidavits to support the banks’ cases, he said.
Attorneys general from all 50 U.S. states last week said they were jointly investigating home foreclosure practices in light of announcements by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally that there may have been paperwork deficiencies in some cases.
This is the second time since 2008 that Dart has halted Cook County evictions over concerns about foreclosure practices and procedures. The sheriff faces re-election for that post and said he is contemplating a run for mayor of Chicago, the third- largest U.S. city.
Incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has held the job since 1989, has said he won’t seek a seventh term in office.
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Bank of America said Oct. 8 it would stop foreclosure sales nationally while it reviews paperwork. The company said yesterday it will start resubmitting foreclosure affidavits next week in 102,000 cases.
“Bank of America has completed a voluntary review of foreclosure affidavits submitted in Illinois and 22 other judicial foreclosure states,” Rick Simon, a spokesman for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender, said today in an e-mailed statement. “Our assessment shows underlying information provided as the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate.”
The average home owner is 18 months behind on payments by the time Bank of America completes a foreclosure, said Simon.
Dart said his office reviewed 350 foreclosure cases and only 17 had complete paperwork to justify an eviction. The approximately 1,500 cases affected by Dart’s halt represent about a third of the foreclosure evictions his office handles each year, he said.
“I can’t possibly be expected to evict people from their homes when the banks themselves can’t say for sure everything was done properly,” Dart said in a statement today.
Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for Ally Financial in Detroit, said that bank would move forward on evictions and foreclosure sales in the 23 states, including Illinois, where it was reviewing its files.
“We are happy to respond to any questions from the sheriff related to this matter,” Proia said.
JPMorgan Chase suspended foreclosure sales as it reviewed more than 115,000 files. Tom Kelly, a spokesman for New York- based JPMorgan Chase, declined to comment on Dart’s initiative.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew M Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net.
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