Regarding large bureaucracies, Mother Teresa once said, "So many signatures for such a small heart." The same could be said for the U.S. banks embroiled in the foreclosure scandal. Haven't they learned anything since 2008′s financial cataclysm?
Obviously, they haven't learned that using so-called robo-signers to process foreclosure documents isn't only wrong but illegal. I mean, do bank leaders actually believe mortgage clerks can sign 10,000 foreclosure files a month–or one per minute–and still give each file a proper review? Even if the clerks were doing their due diligence, one wonders whether they knew what to look for.
A foreclosure supervisor with Goldman Sachs–funny how that name keeps popping up–admitted in a court deposition that she didn't know the meaning of terms such as "promissory note," "lien" or "defendant."We can only conclude that banks are either woefully ignorant in this area or consciously criminal. But just because they're doing this in banking doesn't mean we should do the same in insurance.
In our world, client and advisor signatures on application forms and disclosure documents remain crucial. Cutting corners or playing signature games can have serious consequences for all concerned.