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JPMorgan says foreclosures proper amid AG probe

Addison Ray

NEW YORK/CHARLOTTE | Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:03am EDT

NEW YORK/CHARLOTTE (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase has identified some issues in its ongoing review of foreclosure affidavits, but said it was "pretty comfortable" that its decisions to foreclose had been proper.

The company, which also posted a higher-than-expected profit on Wednesday, is among three of the big mortgage servicers to announce that it has halted some of its foreclosures while it reviews its processes.

JPMorgan has been talking to attorneys general, but does not know what the ultimate outcome of the states-driven probe will be, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said during a conference call with reporters.

Later on Wednesday about 40 state attorneys general, many facing re-election, are expected to announce a joint investigation into the allegations that some banks used shoddy paperwork to kick struggling borrowers out of their homes.

In recent weeks, scrutiny over mortgage servicers' foreclosure practices has increased. Some prominent Democratic lawmakers have called for a nationwide moratorium while servicers and regulators review potential paperwork problems.

However, the White House rejected those calls on Tuesday, expressing fear that such a move could further derail the already unsteady economic recovery.

While momentum for a nationwide halt has been losing steam, lenders still face pressure from state investigators, a fledgling Justice Department probe, and regulators who have asked the largest servicers to report back on their internal reviews by Monday.

Lenders have so far taken different approaches to the growing foreclosure furor.

Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage servicer, has halted evictions nationwide while it reviews its processes. Other lenders have declared more limited suspensions or left their foreclosure policies in place.

GMAC Mortgage, a unit of Ally Financial and one of the nation's largest mortgage servicers, said on Tuesday that an independent review had found no evidence of any inappropriate foreclosures.

Wells Fargo & Co, another major mortgage servicer, said it was doing additional reviews on all pending foreclosures, but had no plans for a moratorium.

"This is in response to requests for information from elected officials, customers and other agencies," said spokeswoman Vickee Adams.

The "robo-signing" controversy has refocused attention on the foreclosure crisis, one of the most visible signs of the U.S. recession, just weeks before elections in which Democrats are widely predicted to suffer major losses because of voter unhappiness over President Barack Obama's economic policies.

Banks repossessed nearly 3 million homes between January 2007 and August 2010, according to RealtyTrac Inc. They are expected to take over a record 1.2 million homes this year alone, the real estate data company said.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay in New York and Joe Rauch in Charlotte; writing by Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)



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