New York is instituting new filing requirements in order to ensure the integrity of the home foreclosure process, the state’s chief judge said Wednesday.

Lawyers bringing foreclosure claims will now be required to file an affirmation that they themselves have taken reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of documents filed in support of residential foreclosures.

“We cannot allow the courts in New York State to stand by idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process, especially when that process involves basic human needs–such as a family home–during this period of economic crisis,” said New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman in a statement.

The new filing requirement goes into effect immediately. In new cases, the affirmation must be filed along with the initial request for judicial intervention. In pending cases, it must accompany a request for judgment or must be submitted to the court referee if a judgment has been entered, but the property hasn’t yet sold.

The move comes as attorneys general nationwide have raised questions in recent weeks about failures in the foreclosure review process, including so-called “robo-signing” where mortgage-servicing employees allegedly signed affidavits without fully reviewing the underlying documents. As a result, several of the nation’s largest banks have temporarily suspended foreclosures in states where court approval is required.

Bank of America Corp. has said it will be resubmitting foreclosure documents next week in 23 states where courts must approve the process. The bank said an internal review of 102,000 cases found no underlying problems. GMAC Mortgage, a unit of Ally Financial, also indicated earlier this week that it is restarting the foreclosure process.

Last week, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which temporarily suspended foreclosures in 23 states and is reviewing foreclosures in many more, said its average foreclosure in New York takes 792 days, one of the longest rates in the nation.

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(Source: WSJ)