Foreclosure cases in Cook County have faced several noteworthy setbacks that have made the prosecution of many cases take months longer than expected.

Investigations into the signing of affidavits by plaintiffs and their attorneys and accusations of shoddy legal work by banks’ attorneys have stalled many cases. In some anecdotal reports, foreclosure cases have idled for nearly two years without plaintiff banks seeking a judgment of foreclosure and sale.

In late March, a Cook County Circuit Court judge halted no fewer than 1,700 mortgage foreclosures after allegations surfaced that the attorneys for the banks filing those actions had re-used signature sheets from affidavits from other documents previously filed in the same cases, the Chicago Tribune reported. Such affidavits are used by attorneys to swear to the veracity of attorneys’ fees, preservation costs, taxes, insurance costs, and inspection costs. The judge’s action applied to the cases filed by a single law firm. But while there are thousands of foreclosure cases currently pending in Cook County, the cases are often filed by one of a handful of firms specializing in this practice.

The result of investigations such as these are that homeowners who hire attorneys to represent them could remain in their home for months – if not years – longer than they expected while Plaintiffs’ attorneys attempt to straighten out the issues related to these investigations. Homeowners facing foreclosure who are not represented by an attorney may not benefit from such slow-downs, however. If a home owner fails to respond to a Foreclosure Complaint, the foreclosing bank will likely seek a default judgment to quickly resolve the case.