With the $25 billion national mortgage settlement announced between government officials and major banks, the financial industry is taking a hard look at changing widespread shoddy document practices that precipitated the national “robo-signing” crisis — and the NNA is addressing the growing need for best practices training for Notary employees and supervisors.
NNA officials are meeting with major mortgage and property records organizations this month to address critical reforms needed to corporate notarial policies. The NNA is also working with many financial institutions, mortgage servicers and other organizations to help reduce their risk and comply with the settlement mandates.
As part of the settlement with the federal government and state attorneys general, five of the nation’s largest banks will provide billions in aid to homeowners nationwide who suffered from bad foreclosures caused by improper signing and notarization practices on thousands of documents, or “robo-signing.” The settlement requires that financial institutions proactively implement training programs, corporate best practice standards for notarizations and Notary law compliance, among other vital terms.
David Thun is an Associate Editor at the National Notary Association.