HSBC HALTS ALL FORECLOSURES; POSSIBLE IMPOSITION OF FINES AND CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES ARISING OUT OF “DEFICIENT DOCUMENTATION” IN FORECLOSURES

March 1, 2011

HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Finance Corp. have halted all foreclosures until further notice, and may be faced with regulatory actions, fines, and penalties arising out of “certain deficiencies” in foreclosure procedures and mortgage loan servicing. The information was buried deep within HSBC’s 10-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. HSBC said it will be substantially addressing noted deficiencies in its foreclosure processes and will “correct documentation and refile affidavits where necessary” in the wake of issues involving robo-signing and other irregularities.

The issue here, obviously, is not HSBC “correcting” anything: it is that HSBC, like others such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, have finally been caught filing false and fraudulent documents in foreclosure proceedings resulting in frauds upon the various courts for which they should be appropriately sanctioned. Borrowers should zealously seek sanctions against such conduct including dismissal of a judicial foreclosure with prejudice or cancellation of a non-judicial foreclosure for fraud. Simply permitting the banks to “correct” what are outright fraudulent actions cannot be tolerated by any court, as there is no procedural rule or substantive law which permits a party to “correct” a fraud upon the court, especially a fraud in the form of a sworn affidavit such as an Affidavit of Indebtedness or Affidavit in Support of Summary Judgment. That is called perjury, and perjury cannot be “fixed”.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com