by David Safier
[NOTE: I created The Gatewood in honor of Henry Gatewood, the banker in John Ford's 1939 "Stagecoach" who ran off with $50,000 in payroll money and said, while clutching the satchel full of stolen money,
"'America for Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking!"
Video at the end of the post.]
Always ready to break with tradition, BfA makes its first Gatewood award to a practice, not a person: Robo-signing. It turns out, it started earlier than people knew, 1998, predating the crush of loans caused by the housing bubble.
The problem of shoddy mortgage paperwork, which comprises several shortcuts known collectively as "robo-signing," led the nation's largest banks, including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and other lenders, to temporarily halt foreclosures nationwide last fall.
[snip]
Widespread robo-signing could create problems for homeowners. If documents with robo-signed signatures are challenged in court, judges could question the ownership of the properties, said Katherine Porter, a professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law.
It's easy to imagine the old embezzler having a room full of robo-signers hidden in the back of his bank if it would help his bottom line, while he railed against government interference with business. Today's anti-regulation bankers would make the old man proud.
In honor of today's Gatewood, I'm featuring the clip from the beginning of "Stagecoach" where Gatewood, after signing a receipt for the $50,000 in payroll money he plans to run away with, states,
"And remember this, what's good for the banks is good for the country."
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