IN THE LICKING COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

CIVIL DIVISION

DEUTSCH BANK TRUST COMPANY CASE NO 09 CV 0205TMM

AS TRUSTEE FOR RALI 2006QAI I
O GMAC MORTGAGE CORP
C JUDGE MARCELAIN

Plaintiff

MICHAEL A FOX et al

Defendants

DEFENDANT MICHAEL A FOX

S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS AND TO HOLD
PLAINTIFF DEUTSCH BANK TRUST COMPANY C
O GMAC MORTGAGE CORP
IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

Now comes Defendant Michael A Fox Defendant pursuant to Civ R 56

G and for

his motion for sanctions and to hold Plaintiff Deutsch Bank Trust Company c
o GMAC

Mortgage Corp GMAC in contempt of court A memorandum in support is attached hereto

and incorporated herein by reference Defendant requests an oral hearing on this matter

Respectfully submitted

THE SHERROD LAW FIRM LLC

J HN S 078598
950 Venture Drive Ste B1
Dublin Ohio 43017
0440
339
614
0515 fax
416
614
john net
sherrodlaw
a

Attorney for Defendant Michael A Fox

1
 Memorandum In Support
I Factual Background

On February 2 2009 GMAC filed a complaint for foreclosure against Defendant

GMAC initiated the process of foreclosing on Defendant

s property located at 10999 Jug Street

Johnstown Ohio 43031 Attached to Plaintiffs complaint was a false and misleading

Assignment signed by Jeffrey Stephan an agent of GMAC The Assignment is attached

hereto as Exhibit A On March 17 2009 Defendant answered Plaintiffs complaint On

March 25 2009 Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment which relied on false and

misleading affidavits signed by Jeffrey Stephan A copy of the Court

s electronic docket is

attached hereto as Exhibit B

A Background Into False Assignments

In many mortgage foreclosure cases filed in Ohio GMAC claimed and claims to be the

holder of the promissory note and mortgage that form the basis for the foreclosure action and in

these cases GMAC is obviously the plaintiff In many other Ohio cases GMAC is not the

named plaintiff but is the servicer or sub servicer for a trustee holding in a pool hundreds or

even thousands of mortgages for investors in certificates evidencing ownership interests in the

securitized mortgage loans the trust As a servicer for the trust GMAC is responsible for

collecting payments on the mortgage loans from borrowers and applying them as required by the

applicable documents communicating with the borrowers about insurance and tax payments the

borrowers allegedly owe negotiating with borrowers over late fees other fees and loan

modifications initiating and pursuing foreclosure proceedings against borrowers obtaining

affidavits and assignments of mortgage to pursue and selling properties of the borrowers that

have been foreclosed upon

2
 GMAC acted and is still acting as a sub servicer for trusts in securitized transactions in

many Ohio foreclosure cases including this one In a securitized transaction with a master

servicer and sub servicer the sub servicer has primary responsibility for communications with

the borrowers and actions taken against the borrower In order to facilitate the mortgage

securitization process when the borrower executes a mortgage typically that mortgage is either

a granted to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc MERS or b the original

mortgage is assigned to MERS MERS is a corporation created by the mortgage banking

industry whose shareholders consist of banks and other financial institutions including GMAC

The mortgage banking industry created MERS to streamline the mortgage process and

save money by using electronic commerce to eliminate paper and the need to file assignments of

mortgage every time a mortgage was transferred in the securitization process or subsequent

changes in servicing Unless MERS is the plaintiff in a foreclosure case MERS does not hold

the note of a borrower and is not named in the note or any transfer of the note but simply is

named the secured party in the mortgage filed in the local real estate records as the nominee of

the note holder

When a trustee of a securitized transaction initiates a foreclosure action as a plaintiff the

servicer sub servicer or its agent is responsible for the preparation of the papers filed in the

Ohio foreclosure action In the many securitized transactions in which GMAC was or is the

servicer or sub servicer of Ohio mortgage loans GMAC has been responsible for the preparation

of the necessary documents including an assignment of mortgage assigning the mortgage from

MERS to the trustee In some cases MERS gives servicers and sub servicers the authority to

execute assignments of mortgage from MERS to the trustee MERS however never authorizes

3
servicers or sub servicers to execute an assignment of mortgage that includes an assignment of a

note

Despite this lack of authority GMAC has caused assignments of mortgage to be prepared

and executed by agents of GMAC that improperly purport to assign the note from MERS to the

trustee and falsely claim that the GMAC employee in this case Jeffrey Stephan has authority to

assign the note on behalf of MERS GMAC

s Jeffrey Stephan has executed thousands of such

improper and false assignments that have been filed in Ohio foreclosure cases and that have the

purpose of trying to deceive the borrower and courts as to who is the note holder
B GMAC Signed and Filed False Affidavits in 2006

In May of 2006 the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duvall County

Florida sanctioned the plaintiff in a mortgage foreclosure case the Florida Foreclosure

Decision because an employee of GMAC had signed a false affidavit on behalf of the plaintiff

The court said Plaintiff through its servicing entity GMAC Mortgage Corporation submitted

false testimony to the Court in the form of Affidavits of Indebtedness signed and subscribed by

Limited Signing Officer with GMAC Mortgage Corporation who would attest to review
a

all of the relevant loan documents when in fact she neither reviewed the referenced records

nor was familiar with the manner in which the records were created by GMAC on behalf of

Plaintiff none of the Affidavits were signed before a Notary

The court sanctioned plaintiff in the Florida Foreclosure decision and ordered GMAC to

provide written confirmation that affidavits filed in future foreclosure actions in Florida

accurately memorialize the actions and conduct of the affiants

C GMAC Continued to File False Affidavits in 2009 and 2010

4
 Jeffrey Stephan has been a team leader in the foreclosure department of GMAC for years
including through at least August 2 2010 Stephan has been an employee of GMAC or

affiliates for approximately five years In a December 10 2009 deposition the 2009

Deposition in a Florida state court foreclosure case the 2009 Florida Case Stephan testified

that his team brought to him approximately 10

000 affidavits and assignments in a month for him

to sign In spite of the Florida Foreclosure Decision Stephan testified that he did not sign the
affidavits based on his personal knowledge and that he relied on others He also testified that his
team did not verify the accuracy of information They do not go into the system and verify the
information as accurate We are relying on our attorney network to ensure that they are asking

for the correct information Stephan knew or should have known that these thousands of

affidavits would be filed in Ohio courts and relied upon by Ohio common pleas judges in

deciding whether the plaintiff in the particular case had a right to foreclose on Ohio residents
When Stephan executed an affidavit or assignment he testified he did not ascertain who
the current promissory note holder was even though his affidavits always stated or implied that
plaintiff was the holder of the note The agents of GMAC prepared these affidavits to mislead
the courts in Ohio on such matters as who kept the applicable records who the holder of the note

was the amount due to whoever the holder of the note was and whether proper notice alleging
default had been sent to the borrower

Despite his acknowledged lack of personal knowledge Stephan swore in thousands of

affidavits and assignments he signed for Ohio courts that he had personal knowledge of the facts
contained in the affidavit or assignment Stephan signed thousands of these false documents and
he and GMAC caused thousands of these false documents to be filed in thousands of mortgage

foreclosure cases in Ohio Stephan claiming to be an officer of MERS signed for many Ohio

5
foreclosure cases assignments of mortgage falsely claiming that he signed a borrower
s mortgage

and note from MERS to the plaintiff even though he did not have the authority of MERS to

assign a note to any party Stephan also admitted that he signed thousands of affidavits outside

the presence of a notary public

Stephan was acting within the scope of his employment with GMAC when he executed

these false affidavits and assignments and when he executed the affidavits and assignments

outside the presence of notaries public GMAC had authority over and the right to control the

actions of Stephan and benefitted financially from the actions of Stephan s actions
Stephan

were part of the business plan of GMAC to deceive the courts and defendants in foreclosure

actions

GMAC has outsourced various pieces of the foreclosure process For example GMAC

contracts with Fiserv Inc Fisery to provide such computer services as recording payments

received from and amounts allegedly due lenders Fisery advertises that it is a leading global

provider of information management and electronic commerce services which provides

solutions for optimizing all aspects of the payments mix to help create efficiency and growth

GMAC employees executed thousands of false affidavits and assignments and purported to enter
and other information into computers for the Fisery system It is
payments failures to pay

Fisery that creates and maintains the records and calculates the amounts allegedly due from

borrowers

In a June 7 2010 deposition the 2010 Deposition in a Maine mortgage foreclosure

case the Maine Mortgage Foreclosure Case Stephan testified that he did not have any

knowledge about how GMAC ensures the accuracy of the data entered into the system

6
 Lender Processing Services Inc LPS provides a separate system that creates

documents for GMAC in the foreclosure process and acts as an intermediary between attorneys

for GMAC in the foreclosure process As part of GMAC policy Stephan did not read every
affidavits he signed that were prepared by LPS The
paragraph of the summary judgment

that Stephan signed contained inaccuracies GMAC knew or

summary judgment affidavits

should have known that failure to supervise the accuracy of the input of information into

maintenance of information in and calculations provided by the outsourced computer systems

and document preparation would lead to errors and inaccuracies that would violate GMAC
s

duty to consumers to accurately account for payments received by consumers and payments
owed by consumers

GMAC learned of the 2009 Deposition soon after that deposition but it took no

corrective action whatsoever During the 2010 Deposition Stephan testified a he signed

affidavits outside the presence of a notary b when he signed a summary judgment affidavit he

did not inspect any exhibits attached to it c he did not read every paragraph of the summary

judgment affidavits he signed and d the process he followed in signing summary judgment
affidavits is in accordance with the policies and procedures required of you by GMAC GMAC

learned of the 2010 Deposition in June 2010

D Sanctions in Maine in 2010

The defendant in the Maine Mortgage Foreclosure moved for sanctions for a false

affidavit that and which the court relied upon The Maine court held oral
Stephan signed

argument on the motion on September 1 2010 On September 24 the Maine court vacated the
grant of summary judgment and also addressed a motion for a protective order that had been
filed that would have prohibited the dissemination of the deposition of Stephan taken in the case
7
The Maine court said that Plaintiff points to the embarrassment GMAC and its employees have

suffered and will continue to suffer from the posting of excerpts from Stephan
s deposition

transcript on an Internet blog The Maine court denied the motion for protective order noting
s deposition was taken to advance a legitimate purpose
Stephan

The Maine court then granted the motion for sanctions filed by the borrower stating

Rather than being an isolated or inadvertent instance of misconduct the

Court finds that GMAC has persisted in its unlawful document signing
practices long after and even in the face of the Florida Court
s order and
that such conduct constitutes bad faith
under Rule 56 g These
documents are submitted to a court with the intent that the court find a
homeowner liable to the plaintiff for thousands of dollars and subject to
foreclosure of the debtor
s residence Filing such a document without
sufficient regard for its accuracy which the court in ordinary circumstances
may never be able to investigate or otherwise verify is a serious and
troubling matter

Since the oral argument in the Maine Mortgage Foreclosure Case was held on September

1 2010 GMAC knew sanctions were imminent In spite of his admissions in his depositions

Jeffrey Stephan is still employed by GMAC reflecting the fact that his actions were in

accordance with GMAC policies and procedure

Il Law and Argument

s complaint and motion for summary judgment were accompanied by false and
Plaintiff

misleading affidavits and a false and misleading assignment According to Civ R 56

G

Affidavits made in bad faith Should it appear to the satisfaction of the court at
any time that any of the affidavits presented pursuant to this rule are presented
in bad faith
the court shall forthwith order the party employing them to pay
to the other party the amount of the reasonable expenses which the filing of the
affidavit caused him to incur including reasonable attorney
s fees and any
offending party may be adjudged guilty of contempt

Here there is no question Plaintiff

s affidavits and assignment were presented to this Court

in bad faith GMAC employee Jeffrey Stephan has consistently acknowledged that he partook in
8
the above described conduct on thousands of occasions As the Maine court noted this is not an

isolated event GMAC has engaged in chicanery and subterfuge in a deliberate effort to

deceive the courts and unwitting consumers

Accordingly based upon the foregoing Defendant requests that this Court enter an order

adjudging Plaintiff in contempt and awarding Defendant his reasonable attorney

s fees and an

award of sanctions not less than 100

00 Defendant requests an oral hearing on this matter
000

Respectfully submitted

THE SHERROD LAW FIRM LLC

7e
e
SHE 416
614
0440
39
Venture

0515 fax
j ohngsherrodlaw
net
OD 0078598
Drive St B1
n Ohio 43017

Attorney for Defendant Michael A Fox

Certificate of Service

Undersigned certifies that a true and accurate copy of the foregoing was delivered to the
following via regular US Mail this 18 day of October 2010

Kyle E Timken Esq

PO Box 165028
Columbus Ohio 43216

Attorney for Plaintiff

Dennis Dove Esq

20 South Second Street
Newark Ohio 43055

9
Attorney for Defendant Licking County Treasurer

Sh od

10
 After Recording Please Return To
Manley Deal Kochal
ci LLC
O Box 165028
P EvAnuIBIT
Columbus Ohio 43216
File Number 0 j 14 o

ASSIGNMENT

MERS Mortgage
Assigner Electronic
whose address ORegistration
is P Box 2026 Systems
Flint MI Inc
48501acti2026
ng solhereby
ely as executes
nomineethifors mortgage
Aegis Wholassiesal e Corporation
gnment for th e

purposeCompany
Trust ofacknowledging
Americas andTrustee
placing thirdBALI
as
parties2006QA1I
on notice of the transfer conveyance and assi gnment Deutsch
for to
Corporation 1 100 Assignee addre
whose address is do GMAC Mortgage
Virginia Drive P
O Box 8300 Fort
Washington Pennsylvania
September 21 2006 executed anddelivered by Michael A Fox and Barbara sic J Fox husband and wife which dated
its interest in that mortgage
mortgageOhio
County was filed October 2 2006 recorded at Official Instrument Number 200610020028681 Recorder
s Office Licking
The property encumbered by such mortgage is described as follows See Exhibit A for legal description
Parcel No 036 11056200
009
Property Address 10999 Jug Street Johnstown OH 43031

The Recorder is hereby requested to cross reference this Assignment to the recording reference ofthe mortgage hereinbefore
described

In witness whereof MERS Assignment

Corporation Mortgage Electro2u
has executed this is Regi stration Systems Inc acting solely as nominee for Aegis Wholesale
this
day of January 2009

MERS Mortgage
solely in
as no
Electronic Registration
iesafie6
Systems
tion
Inc acting
By
Signature

Print Name and

STATE OF 1 Title
J
y Stephan
SS
COUNTY O
Vice President
Before me a
Notary tic personally appeared MERS
Mortgage Electron R istration
no g t or
Aegis Wholesale Corporation the Company stem Inc acting solely as
acting through
who acknowledged that heshe is authorized to si tl A gnment at heshe signed the
foregoing instrument on behalfofthe
Company for the p ses Company by proper authority and that the foregoing instrument is the act ofthe
stated in the i
instrument
official seal on
this day of January 2009 In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my

Notdi Pu 1 c

Prepared by Manley Deas Kochalski LLC P O Box 165028 Columbus OH 43216

5028
After Recording Return to Manley Deas Kochalski LLC P O Box 165028 Columbus OH 432165028
MONWEALTH
COM OF PENNSYLVANK
NOTARUt SEA
Nawr v

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No 3 M10
2010
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