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GMAC Foreclosures Included Treehouses, Forts
HORSHAM, Penn. (CAP) - Internal memos and other documents covertly obtained by CAP News show that mortgage company GMAC's questionable foreclosure practices included not only the so-called "robo-signing" of tens of thousands of foreclosures on single family dwellings, but also children's treehouses, public outhouses and in one case, an 8-year-old German Shepherd's dog house.
"We've only audited less than one percent of GMAC's September filings and already we've found so much fraudulent activity it would make Bernie Madoff roll over in his grave," said Penn. State Attorney General Tom Corbett. "You know, if he were dead."
Corbett said his office uncovered one situation where a Philadelphia girl was told by her mother to go clean up her Barbies before dinner but upon arriving in the living room found the front door to her Barbie Pink World 3-Story Dream Townhouse locked and all the furniture strewn across the living room floor. "And to make matters worse, her Ken had run off with her best friend's Barbie," added Corbett.
Other scenarios played out similarly. A Scranton man who asked not to be identified said his son came running into the house crying one Saturday because he tried to climb into his treehouse only to find that another boy he didn't know was playing Matchbox cars there. Numerous attempts to bribe the boy with candy failed to get him to emerge from the treehouse.
"And now my kid's inside just sitting on the couch watching TV," said the father. "If he becomes lazy and obese because of this, I'm gonna sue."
GMAC isn't alone. Both Citigroup and Bank Of America have also come under fire for signing documents without fully reviewing them, which somehow extended beyond foreclosures to include other loan approvals, faked autographs on sports memorabilia, and a permission slip for one office worker's child's school field trip to Fred's Museum Of Science.
"Totally fraudulent - that science museum has been closed for months," said Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley. "And I'm pursuing a case against Super Duper Foreclosures, Inc. too. Something's just not right about that."
Other state attorneys general are joining the fight with Corbett and vowing to put an end to the unscrupulous foreclosures, "if it's the last thing we do" - which for many of the Democratic incumbents seeking re-election this fall, it may be.
"What we need is a hard-target foreclosure check of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in the area," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. "Every duplicitous foreclosure means one less vote for me. Go get 'em!"
Pundits note that President Obama has been noticeably absent from any of the foreclosure brouhaha, but administration sources say he's still dealing with the long-term fallout from when the White House was foreclosed on President Bush in 2007. He also has reportedly stationed secret service agents inside the fort on Sasha and Malia's play structure to ensure the first family "doesn't fall victim to a middle-class problem."
"Who knew when we bailed out those people who couldn't afford their mortgages a year and a half ago that they'd all end up in foreclosure now," said Obama. "Not me, that's for sure. Funny how it worked out like that."
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