A review of mortgage servicing practices and foreclosure mitigation : hearing before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, July 25, 2008.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

In the last 20 years, the need for a financial expert to act as a witness and consultant to litigating attorneys has grown even more than litigation itself. Twenty years ago, few certified public accountants or economists offered litigation-related services; now, a large number devote much of their practice to this area. To be litigation service practitioners and accountants need to learn or enhance their litigation skills, including the fine points of their roles in trial preparation and testimony presentation, testimony presentation, deposition, direct examination, cross examination, understanding Sarbanes-Oxley rulings, and fraud investigations.

Mortgage servicers -- entities that manage home mortgage loans -- halted foreclosures throughout the country in September 2010, finding that documents required to be provided to courts in some states may have been improperly signed or notarized. In addition, academics and court cases are raising questions over whether foreclosures are being brought properly because of concerns over how loans were transferred into mortgage-backed securities. This report examined: (1) the extent to which federal laws address mortgage servicers' foreclosure procedures and federal agencies' past oversight; (2) federal agencies' current oversight and future oversight plans; and (3) the potential impact of these issues on involved parties. Illus. A print on demand report.