State High Court Issues Order To Banksters On Document Requirements Needed When Initiating Foreclosure Actions In New Jersey

In Trenton, New Jersey, The Star Ledger reports:

• The state’s chief justice has given financial institutions that are foreclosing on homeowners more direction about how to file proper foreclosure paperwork. The judicial order, signed [earlier this month] by New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, comes six weeks after the high court ruled unanimously that a mortgage lender must list its own name and contact information, as well as that of the loan’s servicer, on the document that initiates the foreclosure process, known as the notice of intent to foreclose.



• Because many loans have been bundled and sold to investors, financial institutions have often only listed the servicer, a third party that collects monthly payments.



• Any filing that only lists the servicer is now considered deficient, and the court order said the loan holder must submit additional information for uncontested foreclosure filings so a judge can make a decision. Nearly 95 percent of foreclosures in New Jersey are uncontested, the court has said. The lender must also send a copy of the updated paperwork to the homeowner.



• Thousands of cases pending in the court will be affected by this order in the so-called Guillaume case, a court spokesman said. The case involved Maryse and Emilio Guillaume, homeowners from East Orange, who charged that their lender, U.S. Bank National Association, did not supply sufficient information when it moved to foreclose on their house in 2008. Only the name of America’s Servicing Company, which serviced the loan, was provided.

Source: N.J. Supreme Court order clarifies foreclosure paperwork for mortgage lenders.