Free Chain of Title by David Dayen Page B

laughed out loud for what felt like the first time in months.
    Lisa also finally had actual names of people involved in these transactions. For example, there was Kathy Harman at DHI Mortgage, who endorsed her note to JPMorgan Chase. Lisa found a number for DHI Mortgage and tracked down Harman. “Hi, Kathy, my name is Lisa Epstein. I bought a mortgage from your company a couple years ago. I don’t know what’s going on here—I’m being sued by a bank. I don’t even know anything about U.S. Bank.”
    â€œMm-hmm.”
    â€œI just got a copy of the note, and your name is on it. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this—can you send me what you have in your file about me?”
    Kathy Harman may have never received a call like this before. But after the initial bewilderment, she offered to fax Lisa all the information she could find on her mortgage, including screenshots from the computer system. “I hope this can help you,” Kathy said.
    One screenshot showed that DHI Mortgage shipped the loan out to something called “Chase Alt-A Bulk” right after Lisa signed it (“Alt-A” is industry shorthand for a below-prime mortgage that isn’t quite a subprime loan). JPMorgan Chase “table-funded” the loan, supplying the funding up front and taking possession of the mortgage and note thereafter. Under Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, table funding actually had to be disclosed; Lisa never received any disclosure. More important, nothing in Kathy Harman’s file included any reference to U.S. Bank, whose law firm managed to doctor up the assignment but not the promissory note, which was—by its own evidence—held by a different party.
    The mortgage assignment, dated three months after the foreclosure filing, also had a bunch of names on it. Christina Trowbridge was listed as vice president and Whitney Cook as assistant secretary of the mysterious company known as Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. The assignment included two witnesses, Zaher Gerges and Vladimir Buskarov. After their signatures came a statement from a notary public from Franklin County, Ohio, named Jennifer Jacoby, who attested that Christina Trowbridge and Whitney Cook “personally appeared” before her and “acknowledged that they executed the foregoing as its duly authorized officers.” Underneath, in small type, there was this little notation: “Recording requested, prepared by and return to: Cirilo Codrington.”
    Of all the names on the assignment, Lisa figured she’d have the easiest time finding the real Cirilo Codrington, since that name was so unusual. Plus he wasn’t just a witness; he prepared the incorrect, after-the-fact document. Maybe he could shed some light on its origins. So Lisa went to where presumably all private investigators start missing-persons searches these days: Facebook.When she typed in Cirilo Codrington, only one profile came up. The location: Panama City, Panama. Lisa sent Cirilo afriend request, not knowing whether someone in Panama would notice an unknown lady from Palm Beach, or what she would even do about it if he did. But Cirilo quickly replied with a confirmation. He then sent Lisa a private message: “Who are u?”
    Before panic set in, Lisa pulled together a cover story. “Your name looks so familiar,” she wrote back. “I was searching for someone else and saw your profile and something was triggered in my memory. Have you ever been to Florida or Washington D.C. area (VA and/or MD)?”
    Fortunately for Lisa, she cast her net wide enough to find a connection. “Washington dc my dad used to live over there, his name is bruce antonio codrington. I live in Panama and my aunts live in landover hills Maryland.”
    â€œI used to live all over Wash. DC!” Lisa replied. “In No. VA and in Kensington, MD and Columbia, MD. Now I’m in Florida. Do