'Stagecoach To Hell' Accused Of More Sleaze; Homeowners' Attorney: "They Forged Signatures, They Backdated Documents. We've Got Them Cold!"

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports:

• A Las Vegas attorney who represents people facing foreclosure has accused Wells Fargo of forging loan documents. The allegation is the latest sign that efforts to hold mortgage lenders accountable are escalating in Nevada.



• In court papers filed this month in Clark County District Court, attorney Dave Crosby alleged bank employees committed forgery and fraud in making a $350,000 loan to a father of four who was unemployed at the time. "They forged signatures, they backdated documents," Crosby said. "We've got them cold."



• Crosby said the bank has presented two deeds of trust for the same property. One bears the signature of Olivia A. Todd, who on Jan. 27, 2010, was identified as an assistant secretary with MERS, Inc., a mortgage servicer from the Phoenix area and a co-defendant in the lawsuit.



• But on Feb. 16, 2010, Todd's signature appears on a second deed of trust, where she is identified as the firm's president. Both assignments were notarized as authentic, Crosby said in court papers.



• Crosby made his allegations in a request to have a judge review three failed mediations between him and his clients, Ryan and Mical Henderson of Las Vegas, and lawyers with Wells Fargo, formerly Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

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• Crosby said he suspects robo-signing is widespread in Nevada. One of his cases was the subject of an appeal filed with the state's high court, and he used the lender's own words against it. Supreme Court justices found in favor of Crosby's client, Moises Leyva, ruling unanimously that lenders have an absolute duty to strictly follow foreclosure mediation rules exactly as written.(1)

For more, see Wells Fargo accused of forging loan documents.

(1) See Defective Assignment, Failure To Produce Note Endorsement Sanctionable Under Nevada Mediation Rules; Halts F'closures; Another Lower Court Reversal.