Mortgage Investigation Consistently Hindered By Major U.S. Banks: HUD IG

The five banks that agreed to a $25 billion settlement to resolve fraudulent foreclosure claims consistently hindered a government watchdog's investigation into those practices, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general's office.

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Wells Fargo employees testified that they signed up to 600 documents a day without attempting to verify whether any of the information was correct. Employees that notarized documents, including sworn statements that purported to verify a bank's legal right to foreclose on a home, told investigators that they notarized more than 1,000 documents a day -- often without having witnessed the signature of the documents. The bank also relied on low-paid, unskilled workers to do the reviews: a former pizza restaurant worker, department store cashier, and a daycare worker, to name a few.