By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer
“In a landmark robo-signing case, a former executive of a Jacksonville mortgage-processing giant faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to orchestrating years of fraudulent foreclosure documents, according to a plea deal filed Tuesday in Jacksonville federal court.
Lorraine Brown, who headed a Georgia processing firm, DocX, that earned tens of millions of dollars off the foreclosure crisis, admitted to coaching employees to falsify signatures in order to speed up foreclosures and boost the firm’s profits.
DocX, a subsidiary of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services, was closed in 2010 after evidence of the fraudulent practices came to light.
But the firm’s filings, which prosecutors said totaled more than 1 million forms between 2003 and 2009, still serve as the official backbone for bankruptcies, court proceedings and foreclosures in Tampa Bay and across the country.
Brown, who was charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, was one of the first executives hit with a criminal indictment tied to the robo-signing scandal.
She faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Her sentencing date has not been set.
Banks and loan servicers paid DocX to create and record forms such as lien releases and mortgage assignments, which are submitted to property appraisers as public records of ownership.
Brown, prosecutors wrote, attracted clients to DocX by touting the firm’s “robust quality control” of forms, which are relied upon by courts and insurers for accuracy.
When the housing crisis led foreclosures to skyrocket, the firm’s business boomed. Clients paid DocX $5 to $15 per form, attorneys wrote. Between 2003 and 2009 the firm earned revenues of about $60 million.
To speed up turnaround, prosecutors said, Brown directed DocX employees to forge signatures on mortgage papers and enlist unauthorized employees to falsify signatures. The firm also hired lower-wage temporary workers to fraudulently sign forms, with some workers signing thousands of documents a day, attorneys wrote.
One of Brown’s senior management team, attorneys wrote, sent an e-mail to a colleague stating she “had no intention of ever signing a single document.””