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New Jersey Lifts Its Final Foreclosure Ban

New Jersey's Superior Court has lifted the last of six injunctions handed down late last year, giving ""Ally Financial"":http://www.ally.com and its GMAC Mortgage unit the go-ahead to resume foreclosure actions in the state.
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Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ""issued an order"":http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/superior/order_gmac.pdf this week stating that GMAC had demonstrated the ""reliability of its processes"" and is ""permitted to resume prosecution of uncontested foreclosure proceedings.""

Beginning in late March, a court-appointed retired judge began conducting an extensive systemic review of GMAC's procedures and practices related to the handling of foreclosures and defaulted loans.

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The probe was ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court and encompassed five other servicing shops in addition to Ally/GMAC. The companies were charged with proving to the courts that their foreclosure actions should not be suspended after robo-signing infractions came to light last fall.

Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and OneWest Bank were ""given the green light"":http://dsnews.comarticles/new-jersey-judge-green-lights-five-major-servicers-to-resume-foreclosures-2011-08-17 to begin the regular order of processing foreclosures in the state last month.

The servicers were required to provide information proving chain-of-ownership and that they were authorized to foreclose on behalf of mortgagees other than themselves.

The companies were also asked to demonstrate they had sound record-keeping systems in place detailing payment history and loan status. Documentation was required showing steps that staff followed in executing affidavits, and each servicer had to detail their employee training programs for foreclosure processing.

Judge Jacobson is requiring all six servicers to submit to ongoing monitoring by the special master overseeing the procedural reviews to ensure their continued compliance with the state's foreclosure statutes.