A new report by the Housing and Urban Development agency
released Tuesday says that banks impeded federal investigations and supervisors
directed employees to carry out fraudulent practices.

By now the public is aware that banks regularly engaged in
fraudulent activities, including mass signing of foreclosure documents before
they were reviewed, called robo-signing, falsely notarizing documents and made
up fake job titles. But the HUD report shows that these employees did so at the
direction of their superiors and were sometimes judged by how fast they could
process foreclosure documents.

In addition to these actions, the nation’s largest banks
also impeded federal investigators by preventing them from speaking with
employees and dragged their feet when asked to turn over paperwork for review.

In some cases, this fraudulent paperwork led to wrongful
foreclosure and in some cases foreclosure
attorneys have been instrumental in keeping people in their homes.

The investigators also discovered that many of the people
hired to process foreclosures had little or no training and managers encouraged
wrongdoing where processing something quickly took precedence.

The federal investigation into the largest mortgage
providers recently resulted in a $25 billion settlement which in many states
will go to homeowners and programs to help people with an impending foreclosure
if they cannot afford a foreclosure lawyer.

Whether a homeowner is facing foreclosure because of the
bank’s misconduct or because they have failed to pay their mortgage, they may
be able to stay in their homes if they enlist the help of a foreclosure attorney.