Foreclosure Probe Spans 49 States

Forty-nine states have joined an investigation into mortgage companies that allegedly mishandled documents and broke foreclosure laws in reclaiming houses from homeowners. Alabama was the only state that didn’t sign on to the probe, which will look into whether employees of lenders made false statements or improperly filled out foreclosure paperwork. Ally Financial's GMAC mortgage unit, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase have all stopped foreclosure proceedings after it was revealed that their employees had pushed through thousands of foreclosures without reading the documents, while Wells Fargo and Citigroup have declined to do so, saying they had not made such errors.