""Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto"":http://ag.state.nv.us/ filed criminal charges against two title officers Wednesday for alleged robo-signing.
[IMAGE]The two title officers - Gary Tafford and Gerri Sheppard - are employed by ""Lender Processing Services"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) and are allegedly responsible for tens of thousands of fraudulent documents that made their way through the Clark County Recorder's Office from 2005 to 2008.
Tafford, a California resident, faces 102 counts ""of offering false instruments for recording (category C felony); false certification on certain instruments (category D felony); and notarization of the signature of a person not in the presence of a notary public (a gross misdemeanor),"" according to the attorney's general office.
Sheppard, a California resident as well, faces 100 counts ""of offering false instruments for recording (category C felony); false certification on certain instruments (category D felony); and notarization of the signature of a person not in the presence of a notary public (a gross misdemeanor),"" according to the ""statement"":http://ag.state.nv.us/newsroom/press/2011/robosigningpr.pdf from the attorney's general office.
The attorney general ""alleges"":http://alfn.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/Docs/Nevada-Robosigning-Indicment.pdf the two individuals directed employees to forge their names on notices of default and then notarize the forged signatures. The fraudulent documents were then filed with the Clark County Recorder's office, according to Masto.
LPS ""responded"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/LPSCorporateInformation/NewsRoom/Pages/20111117.aspx to the charges in a written statement, acknowledging ""the signing procedures on some of these documents were flawed,"" but maintaining that ""these documents were properly authorized and their recording did not result in a wrongful foreclosure.""
""I am deeply committed to ensuring that LPS meets rigorous standards of professional conduct and operating excellence,"" said newly appointed LPS President and CEO Hugh Harris. ""I have full confidence in the ability of our leadership team and more than 8,000 dedicated employees to deliver on that commitment.""
LPS says it cooperated with Masto's investigation and was assured earlier in the month that it ""was not a target of this inquiry.""