Some people have a right to file false Affidavits, if we let them. But they have no right to call their false Affidavits the Truth.
A witness giving testimony in an Affidavit must ordinarily swear or affirm under Oath. She or he swears that what's in the Affidavit is the Truth and that it is based on the personal knowledge of the person testifying in the Affidavit.
Failure to comply with these requirements is not a "procedural defect" or a mere failure to "follow the letter of the law in preparing foreclosure paperwork." Gary Blankenship, "Sloppy Paperwork Exacerbates the Foreclosure Crisis/'People Weren't Paying Attention to the Paperwork, and They are Trying to Fix it During the Foreclosure Process'" p.1, col. 1 (Florida Bar News, October 15, 2010). See Press Release, National Association of Attorneys General, "50 States Sign Mortgage Foreclosure Joint Statement," October 13, 2010 (Statement of action based on appearance of "procedural defects" in Mortgage Foreclosure Lawsuits).
If a person swears to Truth as her or his own personal knowledge, and that is not the Truth, it is a fraud upon the Court.
A witness giving testimony in an Affidavit must also execute (sign) the Affidavit in front of a Notary, ordinarily. The Notary is supposed to administer an Oath before the witness signs the Affidavit. In my own personal experience, some Notaries seem not to know how to do that, or even that they have to.
No-one disputes, however, that witnesses swearing to Affidavits filed in Foreclosure Lawsuits, were swearing or affirming to the Truth of what was in the Affidavits, even if they did not take an Oath before they signed the Affidavit and even if they said they did.
An Affidavit is also ordinarily required to be executed in the presence of the Notary. Existing practice has never accepted notarized signatures from people who signed in other States or at other times when the Notary was not present. One of the problems that may exist with some Affidavits in some Foreclosure Lawsuits is that witnesses executed Affidavits in different States and otherwise at times when Notaries were not present in some cases.
If witnesses do not execute their Affidavits in the presence of the Notary, but swear that they do, it is not simply a "technical omission" or simply "shoddy paperwork." See Gary Blankenship, "Faulty Filings Hamper Clearing Foreclosures" p. 1, col. 4 (Florida Bar News, October 1, 2010).
In that case, it is a lie.
The Law's (or perhaps many Trial Lawyers') and the Good Book's treatment of lying are based on the same experience: Human beings are sometimes reluctant to be honest when being honest stands in the way of personal preferences, such as making money. Arguably, says the experienced Trial Lawyer, those who cannot be trusted in small things, cannot be trusted in large ones.
If swearing or affirming the Truth of testimony is a "small thing," then that witness is likely not to be trusted in larger things, such as:
That a Note or other document necessary to proceed with the Foreclosure on a person's home are somehow "missing," and that the absence of that documentation should be excused accordingly; or
The identity of the correct Plaintiff in the Foreclosure Lawsuit; or
The correct amount owed by the Defendants. (In some reports, it is to be doubted whether the Defendants are correctly named as Defendants at all; in some cases, reportedly, Foreclosure Lawsuits have been filed against Homeowners who are either current in their Mortgage payments, or who do not even have a Mortgage.)
To be continued including regarding the Effects of False Swearing on Title Insurance, Mortgage Insurance, and the Court System ....
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