Banks Halt Foreclosures

Improper foreclosure procedures are throwing another curve ball at the troubled mortgage industry.  Regulators from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have told seven major banks to review their foreclosure procedures after Bank of America joined JPMorgan and GMAC (now known as Ally Financial) in freezing their foreclosure processes.  Banks that regulators contacted include HSBC, Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc., and U.S. Bankcorp (USB). Simultaneously, title insurer Old Republic National said Friday it would stop insuring the sales of homes foreclosed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. or GMAC Mortgage until questions about documentation are cleared.  An inability to get title insurance could bring home sales to a halt.