Wells Fargo v Mariskovic Deposition of Cheryl Thomas 23 March 2011
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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-4 ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-4, Plaintiffs, vs. STANLEY W. MARISKOVIC, JR., ET AL, Defendants. Case No.: 2009-CA-007640-0 ________________________ 1 Deposition of CHERYL DENISE THOMAS, held on March 23, 2011, at 1755 North Brown Road, Lawrenceville, Georgia, commencing at 9:53 a.m., before Mary Ann Hanham, Court Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of Georgia.
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This is the deposition of Cheryl Thomas, formerly of DOCX, taken in the case Wells Fargo v. Mariskovic, Case No. 2009-CA-007640-O, a matter before the Circuit Court for the Ninth Circuit of Florida, Orange County. This deposition was conducted on March 23, 2011.
Transcript of Wells Fargo v Mariskovic Deposition of Cheryl Thomas 23 March 2011
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-4 ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-4,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
STANLEY W. MARISKOVIC, JR., ET AL,
Defendants.
Case No.: 2009-CA-007640-0
________________________ 1
Deposition of CHERYL DENISE THOMAS, held on
March 23, 2011, at 1755 North Brown Road, Lawrenceville,
Georgia, commencing at 9:53 a.m., before Mary Ann Hanham,
Court Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of
Georgia.
2 C. THOMAS
1 APPEARANCES:
2
3 On behalf of the Plaintiff:
4 BY: AMY SUMACEWSKI, Esquire
5 Robertson, Anschutz & schneid, PL
6 3010 North Military Trail Suite 300
7 Boca Raton, Florida 33431
8 (561) 241-6901
9 (561) 241-9181 (facsimile)
II
12 On behalf of the Defendants:
13 BY: JONATHON C. A. BLEVINS, Esquire
14 The Law Office of Kaufman, Englett & Lynd
15 111 North Magnolia Avenue Suite 1500
16 Orlando, Florida 32801
17 (407) 513-1901
18 (407) 389-5144 (facsimile)
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DESCRIPTION
Exhibit-A
3 C. THOMAS
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
MARKED
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6 certificate of Appointment of Notary Public,
7 consisting of one page
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9 Exhibit-B
10 Assignment of Mortgage, stanley
II consisting of three pages.
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13 Exhibit-c
14 Assignment of Mortgage, Jason'"
15 consisting of two pages
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17 Exhibit-C-2
18 Assignment of Mortgage, Jason_.
19 consisting of two pages
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21 Exhibit-C-3
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42
22 Assignment of Mortgage, William •. _,
23 consisting of two pages.
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4 C. THOMAS
I INDEX TO EXHIBITS (CONT'D.)
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3 DESCRIPTION MARKED
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5 Exhibit-C-4 42
6 Assignment of Mortgage, Asher g
7 consisting of two pages
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9 Exhibit-C-S 42
10 Assignment of Mortgage, Leticia 1
II consisting of two pages
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13 Exhibit-C-6 42
14 Assignment of Mortgage, Timothy • 15 consisting of two pages
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17 Exhibit-C-7 42
18 Assignment of Mortgage, Dillon £
19 consisting of two pages
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21 Exhibit-C-8 42
22 Assignment of Mortgage, steven_
23 consisting of two pages.
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5 C. THOMAS
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS (CONT'D.)
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5
DESCRIPTION
Exhibit-C-9
6 Assignment of Mortgage, Brenda
7 consisting of two pages.
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Exhibit-C-10
Assignment of Mortgage, Jack
11 consisting of two pages
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3&
MARKED
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42
6 C. THOMAS
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DEPOSITION OF CHERYL DENISE THOMAS
MARCH 23, 2011
MR. BLEVINS: Okay. We're on the
4 record in Wells Fargo Bank versus Stanley
5 Mariskovic, 2009-CA-007640, out of Orange
6 County, Florida.
7 We're here wi th Ms. Cheryl Deni s e
8 Thomas.
9 My name is Jonathon Blevins, and I
10 represent the Defendant as well as
11 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Amy Sumacewski.
12 represent Wells Fargo.
13 THEREUPON,
14 CHERYL DENISE THOMAS,
15 having been first duly sworn, was examined
16 and testified as follows:
17 EXAMINATION
18 BY-MR. BLEVINS:
I
19 Q. Okay. Ms. Thomas, we're here for a
20 depos i tion pertaining to your authority as a
21 notary and some other things regarding
22 assignments of mortgages in some cases.
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A.
Q.
Have you ever been deposed before?
Never.
Okay. Basically, the process is,
7 c. THOMAS
1 Ilm going to ask you a few questions about
2 what your involvement is in some certain
3 situations.
4 All I ask is that you give me a
5 truthful and honest answer, that I s a full
6 answer. You can I t nod your head or shake
7 your head, because it won I t come up on the
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reporting. So if you I re going to answer,
make it audible yes/no. I might ask you to
follow up your answer with a yes/no. Ilm
really not trying to be rude. Ilm just
trying to make sure the record is clear,
okay.
Plaintiff I S Counsel may object to
certain things whi Ie we I re going through.
You III still have to answer most questions,
unless it comes to a time where you believe
you I re not going to answer, then we III take
that up, if that becomes necessary.
But really all Ilm doing is trying
to ask you some questions about your
invol vement in some of these cases, and we I 11
just go from there, okay?
A. Okay.
Q. If my questions are harassing or
8 C. THOMAS
unclear or if you have an issue with me
2 asking questions, just tell me. I'll try to
3 correct the question or ask it in a
4 different way, to try to kind of get the
5 answer that I'm looking for, or to help you
6 better answer your question, okay?
7 A. Okay.
8 Q. So with that, can you, please, state
9 your full name?
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A. Cheryl Denise Thomas.
Q. And where are you currently residing?
A. 474..-..-, that's Lawrenceville,
Georgia .-.
Q. Okay. Are you related to Tywanna
Thomas?
A. Yes.
Q. In what way are you related?
A. I'm her mother.
Q. Okay. Are you currently employed?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Have you been employed in the
past?
A. Yes.
Q. Who were your prior employers?
A. Wow. I've been here seven years, so
9 C. THOMAS
just DOCX. It was LPS. Once they let
2 everybody go, they closed the office.
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MS. SUMACEWSK1: Excuse me one
moment. I jus t would 1 ike to make a
standing objection
MR. BLEVINS: Sure.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: as to as so
that I don I t continually interrupt. 11m
9 objecting to the relevancy of this testimony,
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also the fact that the subpoena and the
Notice of Deposition are on Ms. Thomas in
her indi vidua,l ·capac'i t,Y~ not as a corporate
represent~tive of any corporation.
So I just would like the record to
have a standing objection as to relevancy and
to the individual capacity of this witness.
17 BY-MR. BLEVINS:
18 Q. Okay. Ms. Thomas, before we go any
19 further, too, you did receive the subpoena,
20 correct, to this?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. Did you bring any of the documents
23 that were listed as part of the subpoena?
24 A. I did. I have my 1D. And I also
25 have my notary stamp certificate.
10 C. THOMAS
1 Q. Okay.
2 A. And I also have my tax forms for
3 '98 and I'm sorry, '09, '10, and, I
4 believe, '08.
5 Q. Okay. May I see those documents;
6 please?
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A. Sure.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Again, I obj ect to
the relevancy of these documents.
MR. BLEVINS: Thank you.
I don't know if we need to can
we make copies to put as part of the
exhibits, if I ask her questions about those
things?
THE COURT REPORTER: (Nodding head.)
BY-MR.BLEVINS:
Q. Okay. Ms. Thomas, you you stated
before that you were working for DOCX and
then for LPS, whenever they took over for
DOCX, when it became LPS, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. What was your position or
your and your duties as far as when you
were working for DOCX?
A. Well, I I held positions. I
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11 C. THOMAS
did a lot of different departments. They
did a lot of lateral moves for me. The
last thing that I was doing was in the
reject department, when it was upon closing,
that was the last job title that I held, but
I held different ones.
Q. What is the reject department?
A. That I s when a document might go out
and it has an error on it. And the company
would send it back. And we correct the
error and send it back out again.
Q. What kind of documents are we
talking about?
A. Any kind of loan documents. It
could be, like, a modification. It could be
an assignment, just the loan number, the
amount could be wrong, the spe 11 ing of the
name and address could be wrong, something to
that nature.
Q. And when you say "loan documents,"
are we talking about the or modification
documents, are we talking about the actual
new mortgages and notes or are we talking
about something different?
A. There were mortgages that came.
12 C. THOMAS
1 Q. Okay.
2 A. And different leases.
3 Q. Where did the the documents
4 originate, do you know?
5 A. To my knowledge, they came in the
6 door. And there was a department that we
7 had also. They called it wow it's
8 like I forgot the name of the department.
9 But when they would receive the documents in,
10 they would C-date them as to what date it
11 came in. And we had so many days to get
12 it back out the door. So, to my knowledge,
13 they came out of the door.
14 Q. Okay. So as far as you know, they
15 just they came to DOCX, when you were
16 working there, and then you performed your
17 duties and then the documents left?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. So did you have any role in creating
20 any of these documents?
21 A. No, not at all.
22 Q. So you never actually input any of
23 the data that was on the documents, your
24 role was to edit them, I guess, or to
25 correct errors?
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A. It was
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Form. Excuse me.
I'm sorry. If I object, I don't mean to
interrupt you, but I have to put it on the
record.
Q. I'll fix it.
Was your role just to edit the
documents?
A. In the rej ect department, it's, more
or less, edit, like, maybe the loan amount
if it was wrong, what whoever did the
input of the documents, if it was wrong as
far as the loan amount or maybe the address,
that's the only kind of edit we've done,
because it would come on they would scan
a document. So it would come back on a
screen. And we can edit the document like
that, print it back out, and send it.
Q. And then who would advise you as to
what corrections to make?
A. The supervisor would tell us. And
we learned different types of codes and
different things that you would know how to
correct it.
Q. Okay. Who was your supervisor?
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A. Wow. At that time, it was --, and then from her, it became Renee
Gaglione.
Q. I'm just going to ask you, because
theW Do you have any
relation to
A. No, sir.
Q. And when you say at the time, what
time are we talking about? What years,
months? Can you ballpark what you're talking
about?
A. Within the wi thin that last year,
I was under But then upon
the closing, within about five/six months, I
became more underneath Renee.
Q. Okay. And what year are we talking
about?
A. 2009.
Q. Okay. And how long had you been
with DOCX at that time?
A. Seven years.
Upon the closing?
Q. Yes.
A. Seven years.
Q. Okay. So the supervisor, either
15 C. THOMAS
£ ••••• or Renee Gaglione, wot.l,~~ ... " ';\"
2 a~dvis61 you as to what needs to be changed on
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the documents, correct?
A. Well, they would tea- we would
learn from them how to c9'rrect the document.
So once you ,; - you ,Js:now, y,ou understood how
to correct the document, you didn't go to
them, you know, constantly, but they would
they had told us how to correct the
documents, correct.
Q. Okay. If if I understand your
prior testimony, though, you were just
chang ing loan'" amount:t '.<;>r wi'l'pever the rece i ver
was. How would you know, through that
training, what to change?
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Formi
mischaracterization.
THE WITNESS: It was different temps
that did a lot of the documents.
Q. By "temps," you mean temporary
workers?
A. Correct'.
Q. Okay.
A. So if a if a if a temp
didn't know exactly what to look for, if you
16 C. THOMAS
1 • didn't know" exactly, on the document, what to
2 look for, they would either overlook
3 something or something to that effect, so if
4 that would be a reason that something
5 would come back, because maybe they
6 overlooked something or there was some type
7 of oversight on their part.
8 And so when we would see it, the
9 document, when it comes back, it will
10 actually have a cover sheet on it stating
11 what the problem is or maybe something is
12 missing in the document, so we would just
13 fix that and send it back out.
14 Q. Well, how would you know what you
15 were looking for?
16 A. I knew personally. Because, like I
17 said, I I d been there seven years. And I
18 held different been in different
19 departments. I actually started as a prep.
20 So I knew what a loan was. I knew what a
21 note was, knew what a modification was, and
22 stuff of that nature.
23 Q. But I assume, and correct me if 1'm
24 wrong, that DOCX is receiving these documents
25 from a host of different lenders, correct?
17 C. THOMl\.S
1 A. Correct.
2 Q. Okay. So if you're dealing with so
3 many different lenders or different banks,
4 how would you know, given whatever set of
5 documents you were looking at, what needed to
6 be changed?
7 A. Because all of the documents were
8 pretty much the same as far as the standard
9 procedure, formwise. They were so you
10 would know what particular document to go and
11 look for something, if it was a schedule
12 they paid, the type, but you would know
13 exactly where to go and look for something.
14 Because they were all kind of like the same
15 documents, just a different, you know, bank
16 name or something like that. But it was all
17 pretty much the same standard document.
18 Q. Okay. If if they were all
19 standard then I'm sorry, maybe I'm asking
20 the question incorrectly.
21 But how would you know, you know,
22 what names to change or or loan amounts
23 to change, without being advised from the
24 actual lender of what to change?
25 A. Again, it's it's different
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18 C. THOMAS
departments. Because, like I said it from
the beginning, when the documents come in the
door this is my knowledge of it, when the
documents come in the door, they have a
C-dating process that
Q. I'm sorry, what was that?
A. They have a C-dating process. They
call it C-dating.
Q. Like the letter C dating?
A. Yeah, the letter C
Q. Okay.
A. and then dash dating. They call
it a C-dating process. When the document
comes in the door, they see the document.
They note the document come in. And it's
filled with papers. It's, like, a folder
that's filled with papers, probably anywhere
from 20 to 30 papers, depending upon the
document.
And once that document comes in the
door, it's an original document, so then it's
another process. I could be skipping
different processes. But I'm just going with
the flow. There's another process that scans
this document, okay. So we have it on the
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system, because it's scanned. So if that
2 document goes back out the door incorrectly,
3 because of the scanning system that we have,
4 we would know that that was correct.
5 So if if once somebody is
6 doing something with the document, I can't
7 say exactly what they might be doing with
8 the document, but say a temp was doing
9 something with the document. Say they was
10 looking up a name and maybe the name was
11 a name on the document, the loan document,
12 was different than the name on the title
13 page, so the temp went in and said, well,
14 this title page should have the same name as
15 the loan documents and they might go in and
16 change the document.
17 Why? I couldn't tell you. Whatever
18 their job duties was, that's something
19 totally different. Now, they call that data
20 entry. So if they change the document, we
21 already have it scanned, so we know what the
22 correct name and everything that was on the
23 document.
24 So if it went out the door and they
25 said that name shouldn't have been changed.
20 C. THOMAS
1 Why was it changed? So once it come back
2 on the door with a cover sheet, that's when
3 they would question us, why was this document
4 changed name? So we would change the name
5 back and send it back out. And they said,
6 okay, yeah, the document is correct,
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something like that.
Q. And when you say they're saying it's
correct, are you talking about the
supervisors or the lender on the documents?
A. The lender.
Q. Okay. Now, when you said you would
the temps, or whoever it was that was
doing the data entry, would change the name
on a title sheet, would they ever change the
name in the actual loan documentation?
A. Sometimes. It depends on whatever
data entry process they're doing. It it
may not be just a name change on the title
page. It could be a schedule date. It
could be anything. I'm I'm not sure of
the process of the data entry part of it, so
while they would be doing whatever with the
loan.
Q. Okay. How what kind of
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1 verification would you guys do, or whoever it
2 was that was input ting the names, to know
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whether the title page name was correct or
the name in the loan documentation was
correct?
A. That's another department that would
make sure that it's different bank names
that would have different codes. There's
different schedule days or different
assignments that may be attached to a loan.
So the supervisor or, you know,
someone would have already gathered that
information from whatever bank. And so
they'll know exactly which code or which name
should be on there. It's just they
they would have a code that they would have
gotten from the lender to know exactly, you
know, what should be correct and what's
incorrect or something to that nature. And
they that's, again, the data entry
department.
Q. Okay. And the coding, does that
refer to the borrowers and the lenders or
just the lenders?
A. It could be either/or. I've seen
22 c. THOMAS
1 either/or.
2 Q. Okay. Now, you said there's
3 different departments, I guess, within DOCX,
4 whenever you were there?
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A.
Q.
Correct.
Was it how many different
7 departments, do you think, are involved in
8 this process?
9 A. That's that's really hard to say.
10 Me, myself, I've probably only done three or
11 four different departments. But it it
12 could be anywhere from six six to ten
13 different departments. It depends on
14 whatever, you know, they're doing at that
15 time. Because we had other different things
16 that we did at the job as well.
17 You know, once the mortgage company
18 got like it did. You know, the mortgage is
19 going down, and, you know, all of the
20 flexibil i ty with that. You know, we did
21 other things like foreclosures. So it just
22 depends on what department. There's
23 there's a lot of different departments that
24 was there.
25 Q. And how many people are we talking
23 C. THOMAS
1 about? I mean, do you have any idea of how
2 many people were working at DOCX during that
3 time?
A. See, when I started, it was probably 4
5 about 30. By the time we ended, it was
6 probably a good 100,150, maybe.
7 Q. And when did when is the date
8 that you refer to as the ending date?
9 A. April 1st or April 2nd was the
10 actual due date, but they let us go April
11 the 1st.
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Q.
A.
Q.
Of what year?
2009.
Okay. So were were you also
15 employed at DOCX and LPS as a notary?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. Did you notarize different
18 documents?
A. Yes.
Q. How many about how many documents
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21 would you notarize on any given at any
22 given time?
23 A. That's flexible. It could be
24 anywhere from one to a thousand documents in
25 one day.
24 c. THOMAS
Q. Okay. And how was that setup? I
2 mean, how how did you get the documents
3 in order to notarize them?
4 A. It was different processes. So some
5 sometimes we would go into a room and,
6 you know, we sat around the table and the
7 different people named that might have been
8 on the documents, those people were in there
9 as well. And so as they signed, you know,
10 we just kind of passed the documents. And
11 you you got to the end, which was the
12 notary. Because there might be three or
13 four persons' names on the documents. So by
14 the time it got to the notary, then all of
15 those persons would have signed it.
16 And sometimes it would depend upon
17 the work schedule. You got in there when
18 you got in there.
19 Q. And when you were talking about
20 earlier about the documents and the data
21 input and all of the other things that you
22 guys did with the documents, did you guys
23 were you guys responsible for creating the
24 assignment of mortgages as well?
25 A. I can't say that for sure, because
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25 c. THOMAS
I've never been a part a part of that
department, if it was. To my knowledge,
like I said, they came in the door already
with all of that in it, the assignments, the
you know, the note, the title page, all
of that was in the documents when it came in
the door. If anything was created, I don't
know. I haven't seen it.
Q. So you just personally, you know
that you've never been involved in creating
an assignment of mortgage or a note or a
mortgage or any of those documents?
A. Right. Right.
Q. Okay. Now, back to the the room
where people are signing, when you say that
you could get there when you could get
there, what do you mean? Does that always
mean everybody was there or how would that
work?
A. Well, it it depends, again, on
the on the supervisor. Sometimes she'll
tell you you have to do your own work and
you get in there when you get in there. It
just it really depended upon the
supervisor.
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And, of course, we questioned it.
Because it's like, well, why can't I be in
there? If they're signing their name, I
need to see it. Well, just do what you're
told. And so you did what you were told.
Q. Okay. Now, that's kind of what I
want to get at is, when you say you
questioned it, what do you mean by
"questioned it ll ?
A. Questioned it in terms of if
somebody's name is on the document and I'm a
notary, I have to see that person sign the
document. And so when I when I say
that, I've said ita number of times, you
know, to my supervisors. And they were,
like, well, you you got your own work to
do. And you go in there, you know all of
those people are already in the room signing,
you just go in there and sign when it's your
time, stuff like that. So it depends on
what day.
Q. Okay. So if I understand your
testimony correctly then, either
24 .... or Renee Gaglione, whoever it may be,
25 actually instructed you not to be in the
27 c. THOMAS
I room, in some circumstances, when these
2 things were being signed?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. So there were times that you would
5 notarize something where you didn't actually
6 physically watch the person sign the
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document?
A. Correct.
Q. DO you have any idea you may
not, but do you have any idea of how many
of those documents you would have notarized
without actually seeing the person sign?
A. I really couldn't sayan idea. I
really couldn't say a number to be accurate.
I couldn't even say close to a number. It
it could be a thousand documents. I
I it could be more or it could be less.
I really couldn't give an exact number. I
just know there was a lot of times that we
didn't. We knew the person was in there,
but we didn't physically see them sign.
Q. SO the setup of, I guess, your
offices is that there is a room w.aere t\ese ''if;
its"ople >, are signing these documents?
A. Correct.
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28 C. THOMAS
Q. Like the room we're in now, with
four walls and a door?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. So you so you wouldn't
actually be able to see the people who are
in in the room while this is happening?
A. At the beginning of the day, you'll
know if you're on a document.
How do I say it?
It's almost like a whenever they
were creating documents, it's, like, a
dropdown box that they would pick a certain
name. So if you knew that if if
they knew that you were going to be on the
documents that day because some days you
might not be on the documents. But if they
knew you were going to be on the documents,
the supervisor in the room, at that time,
was Jeffrey I don't even know his last
name. I think it was _. So if he
knew that you were going to be on the
documents that day, he would come to you and
say they're using you as a notary today, so
you need to come in the room today. So I
would take it upon myself and go into the
29 C. THOMAS
1 room and see who was in the room.
2 If I knew that it was f again, going
3 to be a fight with Renee to say you need to
4 stay at your desk and, you know, you go once
5 you know the last person has signed, whatever
6 the case may be. Jeffrey would come and get
7 you or Jeffrey would e-mail you to come in
8 the room, stuff like that. But I would
9 I would go in the room myself and see that
10 the persons that are on those documents are
11 in the room.
12 Q. Okay. So is it true or is it
13 accurate for me to say that it was the
14 procedure for DOCX to tell you and other
15 notaries not to be in the room, in some
16 circumstances, when signing these documents?
17 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Form; objection.
18 THE WITNESS: Objection means I
19 don r t have to answer it?
20 Q. NO, you still ha~e tOt, answer it.
21 A. Oh, okay. Sometimes, in some cases,
22 yes, they said, we didn r t they wouldn r t
23 let us in the room. They said you do your
24 own work. You do what you need to do
25 Q. Okay.
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30 C. THOMAS
you go in there ...
And when we I re saying "they," we I re
meaning the supervisors that you I ve described?
A. Correct.
Q. Now, when it DOCX became LPS, did
that procedure change?
A. Slowly, it did, not right away, but
it progressed to a better change.
Q. Were those supervisors still in place
at the time when LPS took over?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Are you familiar with the
rules of a notary? I mean, I ask that and
I I m not trying to be facetious, but you
understand what the role of a notary is,
correct?
A. Correct.
Q. DO you know the rules as far as
what needs to be done before you could
notarize something?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Can you, please, briefly
describe your understanding of what those
rules are?
A. The bank the main thing was you
31 c. THOMAS
1 see a person sign a document, you know what
2 was on the document, so that when you
3 notarize it, it's an accurate signature.
4 Q. Okay. Now, when you would notarize
5 these documents, whether you would watch them
6 sign it or not, some of these people signed
7 as corporate officers, correct, vice
8 presidents, secretaries, stuff like that?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. Were you ever provided any
11 information regarding their authority to sign
12 in those capacities?
13 A. No, that is another question that
14 we, of course I have, of course, aroused
15 many times.
16 Q. When you say you raised that issue,
17 can you describe how that situation went?
18 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Relevancy.
19 THE WITNESS: Again, you do what
20 you're told. You just it's covered. We
21 have legal documentation. It's covered.
22 That's really all you would get from them.
23 Q. Okay. So when these people would
24 sign as these corporate officers, they never
25 produced, to you, anything that shows that I
32 C. THOMAS
1 am this officer, whatever that position may
2 be?
3
4
5
A. No.
Q. Okay. And when you raised this
issue with them, they just told you to do
6 what you were required to do?
7 A. Yeah, we got it covered. We're
8 legal. You can do it. That's fine, just
9 notarize it.
10 Q. Now, you said that Tywanna is your
11 daughter?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. DO you have any information or know
14 any information about her being a corporate
15 officer?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Are you currently a notary?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Okay. Did you just not reinstate
20 your license or what happened?
21 A. Once I moved because we the
22 company was in Fulton county. So once I
23 moved, I addressed that with Renee, which was
24 such a blessing for me. And I'm in
25 Gwinnett. So I'm like, I'm no more. And
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33 C. THOMAS
that's when they well, upon us leaving
anyway, they took up our notary stamps and
everything and destroyed them. But I was
relieved of my duties once I moved to
Gwinnett County.
Q. Who who I'm sorry, did I miss
that? Who destroyed those documents?
A. I can't say exactly who destroyed
them. All I know is that Jeffrey -the supervisor in the signing room at that
time, he picked up everyone's stamp, the
notaries' stamps.
Q. He took your stamps?
A. He took our stamps. And and
they were destroying them.
Q. How were they destroying them?
A. I don't know how. He just said
they were picking up all of the stamps, all
of the notary stamps. And they were going
to destroy them, because the company was
closing. And they were only supposed to be
used for that company.
Q. DO you know the names of any of the
other notaries that were there at the time?
A. Wow. I can't say, because, at that
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34 C. THOMAS
time, upon the closing, they had hired a lot
of temps that became notaries, so I didn't
know them personally. I didn't know them by
name. And it was different notaries that
were there, but I don't know whether they
were active. Once they hired other notaries
once LPS kind of took over, they hired
another, maybe, eight notaries.
Q. What about the notaries th<j,t wer~
there during the seven years that you worked
for DOCX?
A. I only knew a few. Thomas
was one.
Q. And that's
A. Correct.
Q. Any, relation?
A. She's my niece.
Wow. ~ • was one. Bailey
(phonetic) . I can't I can't
spell her last na'me. I just know it starts
with a K. She was one. was
one. That's really all the ones I could
think of at this time.
Q. Okay. So during the seven years you
were with DOCX or thereabouts, these were
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35 C. THOMAS
some of the notaries that were working with
you?
A. Right.
Q. And they would have been under the
same procedures or guidelines that you were
under?
A. Correct.
And that was another
one.
Correct, same guidelines.
Q. Now, when you got your notary stamp
can I see your certificate' again? I'm
sorry.
(Whereupon, .. handing documenilt.)
MR. BLEVINS: And I guess for
purposes, if we could, document this as
Exhibi t -A since I didn't have this
previously. "
• " (Whereupon, Exhibi t-A was marked for
identification.)
BY-MR.BLEVINS:
Q. The certificate you got here that
says you're from Fulton County, Georgia,
Cathelene Robinson is the Clerk of the Court
for Cheryl Denise Thomas, correct?
I
2
A.
Q.
Correct.
Okay.
36 C. THOMAS
And this was done on or
3 about, it looks like, the 8th day of April
4 of is this '06? Can you tell me what
5 those dates are?
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A.
and it
Q.
A.
Q.
April 8, 2007, is when it was done,
expired 2012.
Oka,r. ~ y ~"
It would have expired 2012.
Now, this is this notary is in
II your individual capacity, correct?
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14
A.
Q.
A.
The stamp?
Yes.
No, they took it up upon the off ice
15 closing, they took it from us.
16 Q. When you applied to become a notary,
17 did you apply to become a notary as Cheryl
18 Denise Thomas
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. or as Cheryl Denise Thomas as
21 employee for?
22 A. Well, when they they paid for
23 everything, the the company. DOCX paid
24 for everything. So they let us know that it
25 was for that company specifically. You don't
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37 c. THOMAS
notarize anything else outside the company.
In other words, we wasn't we
couldn't even take them home. They had to
stay in the office. So you notarized only
in the office. You didn't do anything
outside the office.
Q. Okay. Then based on your notary
certificate here, your notary stamp still
would have been active when DOCX or LPS
closed in 2009?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. And is this your correct
signature here on your application?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Okay. MS. Thomas, what I
would like to do now is I'm going to ask
you some questions about some particular
documents, okay?
A. Okay.
Q. I've already showed these to
Plaintiff's Counsel, but I just want you to
take a look at this.
Can you do you recognize this
document in any way? Do you have any
independent knowledge of this document?
38 C. THOMAS
1 A. Those this is the documents, like
2 I say, when when we go into that room
3 Q. Uh-huh.
4 A. you would know the people. I
5 know I know everybody on this document.
6 I I ve worked with everyone here, so I know
7 their names. And I would know, when I
8 walked into that room, that they I re actually
9 in that room when I would go and do my
10 when it would if it was a time that she
11 said you do your work, you sign later, I
12 would go into the room and make sure that
13 those people were in that room.
14 Q. Okay. And just before we go any
15 further, I have this marked as Exhibit-B.
16 And this is the Assignment of
17 Mortgage, in the instant case that we I re here
18 to talk about, between American Home Mortgage
19 Servicing, Incorporated, as
20 successor- in- interest to Option One Mortgage
21 Corporation. The borrower I s name is Stanley
22 Mariskovic, a single person. Original
23 mortgagee was Option One.
24 But you don I t have any independent
25 knowledge whether this is one of the
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39 C. THOMAS
documents where you were actually present in
the room or if this was one of the times
when you were told not to be in the room?
(Whereupon f Exhibi t-B was marked for
identification.)
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ect to form.
THE WITNESS: Corre ct f I can r t say
whether I was in the room for this document
or not, I cannot.
BY-MR.BLEVINS:
Q. Okay. And you say you recognize the
names of the people who were on that
document?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Can you list off those names?
A. Dawn Williams, Korell Harp, Christina
Huang f and Tywanna Thomas.
Q. Okay. Now, Korell Harp signed as a
vice president, correct
A. Correct.
Q. at least, as far as this document
is concerned?
A. Correct.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Objection. It
calls for a legal conclusion.
40 C. THOMAS
1 Q. Okay. And Tywanna Thomas, she
2 signed as an assistant vice president?
3 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Same objection.
4 THE WITNESS: Correct.
5 Q. And are those signatures accurate?
6 Is that Tywanna I s signature?
7 A. TO my knowledge, it is, yes.
8 Q. Okay. And on the back page is
9 where you notarized it?
10 A. Correct.
11 Q. And is that your signature?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Okay. Now, when you notarized this
14 document, did either Korell Harp or Tywanna
IS Thomas present to you any information
16 regarding their ability to sign as a vice
17 president, or an assistant vice president
18 respectively?
19 A. No.
20 Q. And did you have any hand or have
21 any independent knowledge as to the creation
22 of this document?
23 A. I I know that there was a
24 document that was created at DOCX, because I
25 can because of the names that are on it.
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41 C. THOMAS
Q. And it also says that it's recorded
and returned to DOCX at the top left-hand
corner, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. SO this is what your documents would
have looked like from DOCX?
A. Well, yes, Assignment Assignment
of Mortgages, yes.
Q. Okay. Do you know if based on
your prior testimony, about the editing of
the documents? Do you know if either the
date of the mortgage, the recording date., the
loan amount, document number, or any of the
names listed in the the paragraphs of the
Assignment of Mortgage were changed?
A. To my knowl edge, no.
Q. But it was your testimony, though,
that if the lender told you to change
something that that would have occurred?
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Object to form.
THE WITNESS: Correct, if it came
back as a rej ect and something needed to be
changed, correct.
Q. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Thomas.
A. Uh-huh.
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42 C. THOMAS
Q. I would like to show you another
document. We're going to call it Defense
Exhibit-C. Actually, what we'll do is we'll
call this Composite Exhibit-C, because there's
going to be multiple documents here.
(Whereupon, Exhibit-C through C-10
were marked for identification.)
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Objection to
relevancy, authenticity to these documents.
BY-MR. BLEVINS:
Q. Ms. Thomas, is this another familiar
type of form that you witnessed while you
were working at DOCX?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. This is another Assignment of
Mortgage, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Now, this one is from
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems as
the nominee for American Home Mortgage
Acceptance, Incorporated, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know the people who signed
this document?
A. Yes.
43 C. THOMAS
I Q. Do you have any independent knowledge
2 as to whether or not you were in the room
3
4
5
6
when this document was created or when you
signed it?
A. I was.
Q. Okay. Were you actually in the
7 room?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And how do you know that you were
10 actually in the room?
II A. Because I actually signed.
12 Q. Okay. And you signed in what
13 capacity?
14 A. As a vice president.
15 Q. Are you or do you have any documents
16 to show that you are, in fact, a vice
17 president of any company?
18 A. Again, another question that we
19 raised. No, not at all.
20 Q. Okay. So as to your knowledge,
21 you're neither a vice president for Mortgage
22 Electronic Registration Systems, Incorporated?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. Or for American Home Mortgage
25 Acceptance, Incorporated?
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44 c. THOMAS
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Now, the other people who
signed this, can you list off the people who
signed this document as well?
A. s Linda Green, and
Tywanna Thomas.
Q. Now, is _"'~ is she
related to Jeffrey 4S •••• or is she how
is she involved with the company?
A. I don I t think she I s related to
Jeffrey at all.
Q. Now, the but the witnesses that
signed, would they just go into that room as
well and sign the documents?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Now, did Tywanna Thomas also
sign this document?
A. To my knowledge, yes.
Q. Is that her accurate signature?
A. As far as I know. I mean, you sign
so many documents, of course, the signature
changes a lot. But as far as I know, yes.
Q. Okay. And this was notarized by
-_SII _? A. Yes.
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45 C. THOMAS
Q. Was she in the room when you all
signed this document?
A. I I really couldn I t say
Q. Okay.
A. . -- hOJaest],~·.
Q. And just for clarification, this is
the Assignment of Mortg·age· 'betWleen Jason
Cross, signed by Mqrtgage Electronic
Registration Systems as nominee for American
Home Mortgage Acceptance, Incorporated.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Objection as to
relevancy.
Q. Okay. Now, the remainder of the
documents, Ms. Thomas, are other Assignments
of Mortgages, if you want to take an
opportunity just to look through those real
quick.
These all look fairly familiar to
you?
A. The different names and the people,
yes.
Q. Okay.
A. I I do know that some some of
the sig.natures are changing. And I I can
truthfully say it's because they have
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46 C. THOMAS
surrogate signers.
Q. Okay. That's what I want to talk
to you about. Let's start from the first
4 Assignment of Mortgage, which is another
5 Assignment of Mortgage from Jason Cross, from
6 Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems as
7 nominee for American Home Mortgage Acceptance,
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Incorporated, which is Composite C and we'll
call this 2.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ection to
relevancy; authenticity.
Q. NOW, these people who signed this
document, you didn't notarize this one,
correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. But do you recognize the
signatures of those who did sign the
document?
A. I kind of recognize them, yes, from
again, you sign so many documents. But
to my knowledge, that's kind of their
signature, yes.
Q. Okay. And the one I want you to
pay potential attention to or particular
attention to is Tywanna Thomas's signature.
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47 C. THOMAS
Is that her signature?
A. Once again, they change so much, but
I do know that she was one of the ones that
had a surrogate signer
Q. Okay.
A. so ...
Q. So
A. If I if I look through these
documents, I can see that her signature has
changed a lot.
Q. Okay.
A. So I don't know which one is a
surrogate and which one ..
Q. Well, what I want to ask you,
though, is, I'm going to need you to tell me
definitively whether or not this one on
on C-2 is Tywanna Thomas's signature.
A. C-2?
Q. Yes, this document right here, yes
(indicating)
A. To my knowledge, that's the way she
signs, yes.
Q. Okay. Now, turn to the next
Assignment of Mortgage, which we will call
C-3. This Assignment of Mortgage also has
48 C. THOMAS
1 Tywanna Thomas I s signature on it, correct?
2 A. Correct.
3 Q. Is that her signature?
4 A. That I S also close. I will say yes.
5 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Objection to form;
6 relevancy; and authenticity.
7 MR. BLEVINS: DO you want to make
8 that standing, because I'm going to ask the
9 same question for all of them?
10 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Yeah, for all of
11 these assignments as to authenticity,
12 relevancy, and form.
13 BY-MR.BLEVINS:
14 Q. Okay. Now, Ms. Thomas, I want to
15 talk to you about C-4, which you I re looking
16 at right now. Is that do you see that
17 Tywanna Thomas signed this assignment as
18 well?
19 A. I would say that I s different. I
20 that would probably be a surrogate.
21 Q. That I S a surrogate?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Are you sure?
24 A. I said that would probably be a
25 surrogate. I would think so, yes.
49 C. THOMAS
I Q. Okay. And, also, she, at this time,
2 signed as an assistant vice president. Now,
3 you've said before, though, that you don't
4 believe that you've ever seen any
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documentation showing that she actually is an
assistant vice president?
A. Correct.
Q. But on the very first document, she
signed as an assistant secretary. Are you
aware of any documentation or anything that
would have occurred that changed her
position?
A. No.
Q. Okay. I want to talk to you about,
what we'll call, C-5. The borrower's name
should be Leticia ...... Okay. Tywanna
Thomas signed this Assignment of Mortgage?
A. That looks like a surrogate signer.
Q. Okay. And why do you say that?
A. Her name is more fuller, the first
name would be more fuller. And she don't
her T is not like that.
Q. Okay. Now, when you we'll come
back to that.
I would like you to turn to C-6.
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50 C. THOMAS
Do you recognize these signatures?
A. I'm not familiar with Veronica is
that veronica"-? I'm not familiar with
that, but the other two, Chris Pendley and
Lisa and Christina, yes.
Q. Okay. Are those their signatures?
A. To my knowledge, yes.
Q. Okay. I would like you to turn to
C-7. The borrower's name should be Dillon
Campbell. Do you recognize these signatures?
A. That Tywanna is a little shady, but
it could have been one of those times she
was probably moving through the documents.
So I wouldn't say yes or no to that one.
Q. Okay. So you don't know?
A. I wouldn't - - " yeah, I wouldn't say
yes or no to that, because it's it's
close. But I I wouldn't say yes or no
to that, whether it was a surrogate signer
on that one or not.
Q. And, again, this time she's signing
as an assistant vice president?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Now, I would like you to
turn to C-S. The borrower's name should be
51 C. THOMAS
1 Steven 3. Do you recognize these
2 signatures?
3 A. Tywan1V.a, tf'!t,ain, is is that's a
4 surrogate signer. And Linda Green, that's a
5 surrogate signer.
6 Q. And how do you know that?
7 A. How do I know she had a surrogate
8 signer?
9 Q. Yes, ma'am.
10 A. It was several people in the office
11 that had surrogate signers, that I do know.
12 I know that because of notary purposes.
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. It's one of the questions that came
15 up when Linda Green didn't look I ike Linda
16 Green and you asked me to notarize it.
17 Q. Okay. And we'll call this one C-9.
18 Do you recognize these signatures for the
19 Assignment of Mortgage and the borrower's
20 name is Brenda -_? 21 A. I recognize those signatures, yes.
22 Q. Okay. Let's turn to C-IO. This is
23 the borrower's name is Jack • 24 This one doesn't have Tywanna Thomas's
25 signature on it, correct?
52 c. THOMAS
1 A. Correct.
2 Q. Would that have been a problem for
3 you all as far as notarizing these documents
4 if that doc- if that signature was
5 missing?
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MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ect to form.
THE WITNESS: Let's just say it
would have it would have came back to
bi te us more than it would them. But with
the process, like I say, the way they have
us doing work, they they're getting stuff
out the door. They want you to go in the
room later. And if you miss a signature or
or you miss something or it's it just
comes back to bi te you in the butt later,
but they they're rushing stuff out the
door, because there's always a timetable.
There's always a time limit, I should say.
Q. Now, when you say come back to bite
us versus them, who is us and who is them?
A. Us in terms of notaries.
Q. And them?
A. Them would be the managers.
Q. SO you think
A. We would take the fall for it before
53 C. THOMAS
1 they would.
2 Q. You would take the fall?
3 A. We we wouldn't have a choice but
4 to take the fall for it. Because they would
5 be like, well, you should have paid
6 attention, but you're constantly rushing stuff
7 out the door. You're you know, you're
8 you're constantly running us here and there
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and saying do this and do that. So
sometimes you get there, you just sign it
and you keep on going.
Sometimes I've I've known of
incidents of some notaries that probably
would have been in the room and signed, so
they could go do what they had to do. It's
it's just it jus t depends on the
manager and what day she how she was
feeling that day.
Q. Okay. Now, I want to go back to
something you touched on here in a second,
but I would like to ask you, and if you
want to take a minute and flip through it,
that's fine, but do you have any knowledge
of these documents being signed without the
presence of a notary?
54 c. THOMAS
1 A. I can't say. I I don't have any
2 knowledge of it. I can't say yes or no.
3 Q. Okay. But these would have been the
4 type of documents that would have been
5 potentially notarized without one of you
6 notaries being in the room?
7 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Form.
8 THE WITNESS: Possibly.
9 Q. Okay. NOW, the surrogate signers,
10 how did that work? How did the surrogate
11 signing situation occur?
12 A. I can't say how it occurred.
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. When it was brought to my attention,
15 it was a particular day, I can't say what
16 day it was, but we were all in the room and
17 we were informed that we were going to have
18 surrogate signers. Because some of the
19 people that were on the documents had a lot
20 of work to do, so they brought in different
21 temps to sign for them. And they let us
22 they told us that it was legal and it was
23 okay. And they even had a form that
24 let's just say Tywanna, for instance, it
25 would be a it was a form that we would
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55 C. THOMAS
see and Tywanna would sign her name the way
she signs her name. And if John was
her surrogate signer, he would sign Tywanna' s
name the way he signs Tywanna's name.
Sometimes it was close. Sometimes it wasn't.
But they told us that it was legal
documentation, that it was okay for Joe
to sign Tywanna's name this way, because of
the form that they had, so ...
Q. Can you can you describe the form
for me?
A. I really can't. It's been a long
time. And it was just that one time. I've
never seen the form after that.
Q. And what was your understanding of
what the form was?
A. That it was a legal form that
Tywanna Thomas would sign her name a certain
way and Joe would sign it close or
however however he signs it. And it was
legal for him to do that, because Tywanna
had a lot more work to do. And she didn't
have time to sign the documents.
So, in other words, we would have
had to wait on Tywanna to come in, in which
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56 C. THOMAS
Tywanna wasn't the only one that had a
surrogate signer, but we would have" ,tAo wait
for Tywanna to come in before we could
finish out the document. So they had, 1 ike,
four or five different surrogate signers.
Q. NOw, when you say they told you that
this was legal or they told you to fill out
this form, who is "they"?
A. The managers, Renee Gaglione again,
Jeffrey ___ also, and Shelly. Shelly
Scheffey was also one of the supervisors.
She informed us. She was in there during
that conversation. Kim French, she was a
manager. She was also in there. And I
want to say that the HR person was in there,
carol.-. I want to say she was also
in in the room at that time. That
that's basically it, I think, for supervisors
that were i~ the, room, that I can remember
that I can recall. There could have been
more. I just it was mainly people in
the room, more like notaries and, you know,
some of the people's names that were actually
on the documents.
Q. Okay.
57 C. THOMAS
1 A. It was, like, maybe 30 to 40 people
2 in the room, so ...
3 Q. And the process that you're
4 describing or the procedures you're
5 describing, that occurred at DOCX?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. Did it also occur at LPS?
8 A. It it was still going on during
9 LPS, yes, and it and then it tapered off
10 more towafds th~ end. You know, they kind
11 of got rid of all of the surrogate signers
12 towards the end.
13 Q. When you say you guys and you
14 mentioned this before, that you raised an
15 issue about this, what was the explanation
16 that was givei'l to you as to why this was
17 okay?
18 A. They just said legal documents. Well,
19 it was mainly Renee. I shouldn't say they.
20 It was mainly Renee. She would just say
21 this is a legal document, you know. We
22 we have authorization to do it this way, you
23 know. We know what we're doing, just
24 just do it, just sign your name. We got to
25 get this out the door, just do what you're
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58 c. THOMAS
told.
Q. Did you ever notarize any documents
that you knew a surrogate had signed?
A. Yes.
Q. What happened to these documents
after you all signed it or notarized these
documents?
A. They were shipped out.
Q. Were you asked to keep track of
different state jurisdictions, county
jurisdictions as far as what was required on
these documents?
A. As as what?
Q. For example, if you were given an
Assignment of Mortgage from Florida, would
you handle that differently than if you were
handed an Assignment of Mortgage from, say,
Georgia?
A. I wouldn't personally, no, I wasn't
given anything pertaining to that. I know
there was different jurisdictions, but it
wasn't something that I had memorized or had
any knowledge of. That would be data entry
that would, you know, do something upon that.
Q. Do you know what goes into or what's
59 c. THOMAS
required for these Assignment of Mortgages to
2 be valid?
3 MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ect to form.
4 THE WITNESS: No, I don't.
5 Q. Okay. So the I'm sorry, let me
6 flip through these real quick. Okay.
7 So referring to C-l that we talked
8 about before, where you signed as a vice
9 president
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A. Uh-huh.
Q. Are you looking at that document?
A. Yes.
Q. The Assignment of Mortgage says that
this was conveyed for good and valuable
consideration from Mortgage Electronic
Registration Systems, Incorporated, as nominee
for American Home Mortgage Acceptance to U. S.
Bank National Association as Indenture Trustee
for American Home Mortgage Investment Trust
and a list kind of a long list for the
trust.
Do you know or have any actual
knowledge as to what valuable or good or
consideration was given for this assignment?
A. No.
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60 C. THOMAS
Q. And you don I t know that even though
you signed as a vice president?
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ect to form.
THE WITNESS: No.
Q. Okay. Have you ever held any
corporate position in any corporation as far
as your as far as you know?
A. No.
Q. Have you ever been to a board
meeting?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Have you ever been asked
have you ever been paid out any dividends or
anything like that from a corporation?
A. No.
Q. Okay. So has Mortgage Electronic
Registration, Incorporated, or American Home
Mortgage Acceptance, Incorporated, ever
contacted you as being a corporate officer?
A. No.
Q. Okay. And is that the same for
Tywanna Thomas?
I know she I s your daughter.
But are you aware of any of the
same circumstances with her? Has she ever
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61 C. THOMAS
been to a board meeting, ever being contacted
by
A. To my knowledge, no.
Q. Have you been in contact with
anybody from DOCX or LPS regarding any of
these circumstances or situations, regarding
these Assignment of Mortgages or any other
documents?
A. Since the layoff?
Q. Yes.
A. No.
Q. Have you talked to anybody about any
of these circumstances, any of the
signatories, or anybody else who used to work
at DOCX or LPS?
A. Other than Tywanna, no.
MR. BLEVINS: Okay. Okay. I don't
think I have any further questions, unless
you have any questions.
EXAMINATION
BY-MS.SUMACEWSKI:
Q. I just have a couple of questions.
with regard to Exhibit-B, the
Assignment of Mortgage having to do with this
case, the Stanley Mariskovic assignment, your
62 c. THOMAS
1 only involvement on this assignment was as
2 the notary public, correct?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. You were not involved in the
5 reviewing of this document?
6 A. Reviewing it in terms of it being
7 Q. Auditing or editing the document.
8 A. No. No.
9 Q. And about how many departments would
10 you say that this document had gone to
11 before it went to the signing process?
12 A. I really can't sayan accurate
13 number, because there's different departments
14 and I don't know the procedure. I just know
15 once it's in the room, I do the signing
16 process. I don't know. I don't know who
17 does the printing or anything like that. I
18 don't know. All I know is it starts with
19 data entry and it it gets to the signing
20 room.
21 Q. And as a notary, at that point, your
22 only concern is that the people signing the
23 document are the people that signed the
24 document, correct?
25 A. Unless they had a surrogate signer,
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63 C. THOMAS
correct.
Q. And when the signings took place,
you said that you made sure you knew who was
in the room?
A. Sometimes I would go in there. If
I if they told me, ahead of time, that I
was going to be a notary today because
sometimes Jeffrey made it a point he
he was a pretty decent guy. And he made it
a point to to tell you sometimes. If he
could get to you and say, you know, you're
going to be a notary today or or if he
could shoot you an e-mail and say that. I
don't know else who he was doing it to. I
know he would do it to me from time to
time. And when he did that, I would go and
I would look to see if somebody is in that
room that's, chances are, on that document.
And I know that I'm going to be a notary
for that particular document.
Q. So chances are for when you
notarized this assignment, Exhibit-B, you
checked to make sure that Dawn Williams,
Christina Huang, Korell Harp, and Tywanna
Thomas were
64 C. THOMAS
1 A. Looking at that signature there, that
2 that could have very well been one of
3 Tywanna's surrogates on that one (indicating).
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Q. You would have made sure that the
surrogate was was there, though?
A. Yes.
Q. And did anybody keep you from the
room saying that you're not allowed to go in
the room, that it's none of your business
who's in the room?
A. Renee would say that from time to
time, yes.
Q. But you you personally checked
14 yourself?
15 A. Sometimes when you know, unless
16 you're going to have a run- in with her and,
17 you know, there's your job, you just kind of
18 did what you were told
19 Q. Was that
20 A. stay out of the room, you know.
21 When it's time for you to go in, they'll
22 call you.
23 Q. Was that for expediency purposes,
24 though?
25 A. Yes, but, yet again, it's it
65 c. THOMAS
I still questioned my character as a notary,
2 but to her, that didn't matter. I mean, you
3 do what you do.
4 In other words, she treated she
5 treated everybody like they were on those
6 documents as just names. The notaries
7 even though you you had a more
8 responsible side of it, it it didn't
9 matter to her.
10 Q. But she wasn r t doing it to deceive
11 anybody to not have the correct signer sign
12 a document?
13 A. I don't think anybody would have
14 well, I I shouldn't say I don't think.
15 I know if if Tywanna had a surrogate
16 signer and I and when I would come into
17 that room, I it could be 2,000 documents
18 in that room.
19 I may only sign, as a notary, 500
20 documents, say, that day. If I go into that
21 room and they're through with my 500, those
22 three or four people that are on that
23 document and it's time for me to sign, as a
24 notary, my 500, those people are still in
25 the room, chances are, because they're on the
66 C. THOMAS
1 other 2,000 or 3,000 documents, so they're
2 still in the room.
3 So I could look over and say, okay,
4 Tywanna is here, or, okay, you know, there's
5 her surrogate. I I I can truthfully
6 say that, they were still in the room.
7 Chances are, they were there. They wasn't
8 gone out of the room when it came time for
9 me to sign.
10 Q. You knew the people you were
11 notarizing for?
12 A. Right.
13 Q. Okay. Did you have any seminars or
14 training on how to be a notary?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Were you aware of any power of
17 attorneys or corporate documents that
18 appointed certain people to act in certain
19 capacities?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Is there a chance that there could
22 be some power of attorneys naming you as
23 as assistant secretary that you just don't
24 know about?
25 A. It could be. I I don't know
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67 C. THOMAS
about it.
Q. Are you familiar with how power of
attorneys work?
A. If someone is incapable of doing for
themsel ves, someone has that authority to do
it for them?
Q. In some circumstances, yes.
And do you know if you necessarily
need to know if you're someone' s power of
attorney?
A. I think it's necessary to know it.
Q. Only we 11, when you're before
you're asked to act on the power of
attorney?
A. I would I would hope that I
would know it, that I'm going to do
something if I'm given that power as opposed
to just telling me I have that power.
Q. Now, you said that you left your
notaries in the office?
A. Yeah, they picked them up. Well,
they picked up mine. They said at that
time, Jeffrey said we're we're picking up
all notary stamps.
Q. I took it to to seem that when
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68 C. THOMAS
you left the office for the day, you left
your notaries in the office. Did you take
your notaries with you? Did you always have
your notary with you whi Ie during your
employment with DOCX?
A. No, I never never took it home.
Q. It was in the office?
A. It was always in the office.
Q. Was it locked up?
A. Sometimes. It depends on like I
said, I moved around a lot. They they
had me in different departments. So
sometimes it wasn't locked up. But, you
know, everybody in the office didn't
particularly know who all were notaries, per
se, or active notaries. So, I mean,
everybody kind of stayed to their own
station. They wouldn't just, you know, take
things or whatever, you know, to my
knowledge.
Q. You felt it was pretty secure?
A. Yeah.
Q. And you and you felt that the
supervisor wanted to to keep the notaries
in the office for securi ty purposes?
69 C. THOMAS
A. That, plus to make sure that you
2 don't notarize anything outside of that,
3 because they only paid you to they paid
4 for you to do specific work for them, that's
5 it.
6 Q. Now, by looking at these documents
7 today, do you know with certainty that these
8 documents were actually signed by who they
9 say they were signed and that the contents
10 of these documents are the exact copies of
11 the originals that were housed, that were
12 presented to you?
13 A. I I can't say for sure. I just
14 they they look familiar. That's all I
15 can say. And the signers, some of the
16 signatures look familiar, like I said, with
17 different ones that had maybe a surrogate
18 signer attached to it or not, but I I
19 can't say. It was so many documents. If
20 my life depended on it, I couldn't tell you,
21 because you sign so many.
22 Q. So Exhibit-C, C-l through 10, you
23 you would not be able to say that with
24 specificity that these are actual documents
25 in the content and form that the copies
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70 C. THOMAS
presented to you today?
A. I can say that looks like the
documents that we have signed throughout the
course of working there, but to just say
I wouldn't it would be kind of hard to
say that it's something that's made up or
that is not exactly a copy of something that
I'm used to seeing
Q. And you
A. I would say it's something I'm
used to seeing.
Q. And you weren't present during the
ones that don't have your signature or
probably not present?
A. Correct.
Q. And you're not a handwriting expert?
A. No.
Q. Have you ever had any handwriting
training?
A. No.
Q. And as a notary, was it your duty
to check I might have asked you this
already. Was it your duty to check and make
sure the names were accurate as to the banks
and the borrowers
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71 C. THOMAS
A. No.
Q. on the assignment?
Were you told how many signers are
necessary to sign the assignments?
A. No.
Q. So if a name is left off, you it
was okay that you notarized, because you
weren't notarizing a signature, you didn't
know if that person's name could be left
off, that they needed four signatures or not?
A. It depends on the document. Some of
them need three. Some of them might need
four. Some might have needed two. It just
depends on the document.
Q. But in your notary capacity, it
didn't matter to you, you were just
notarizing the signatures that were there?
A. That's hard to say. Because, again,
you you're to sign a document after
everybody has signed, that that was what
we were told as a notary. That's what you
were told.
But in this office, because they
were sweeping stuff out the door, there would
be times that you would miss something,
72 c. THOMAS
1 because of I I want to say because of
2 the the pressure that they would put on
3 you. There would be times that out of 500
4 documents, I might have missed 20.
5 To honestly say, I I could have,
6 just because of the pressure that was on you
7 to you go in there, you got an hour to
8 go in there and do whatever and get back.
9 I mean, you so it I S a chance you would
10 miss something. Nobody it I s plenty I 'm
11 sure went out the door. And I know
12 specifically it went out the door, because
13 when I was in the rej ect department, when
14 they would come back, there would be times
15 that like that one signature was missing,
16 I I ve seen that many times.
17 Q. You noticed things like a missing
18 signature, but not like an odd signature?
19 Like somebody
20 A. The surrogate signer?
21 Q. that you didn I t recognize the
22 name?
23 A. Only if it was a surrogate signer.
24 Q. But I I m talking about the person
25 whose name is typewritten underneath, if you
73 C. THOMAS
I didn't recognize the name, would you ask to
2 see that person?
3 A. I haven't really signed any I didn't
4 I didn't recognize the name.
5 Q. Okay. That's what I was trying to
6 get at.
7 A. Okay.
8 Q. Were you ever ever told to forge
9 any signatures?
10 A. No.
11 Q. When the meeting about the
12 surrogate signers, were the surrogate signers
13 told to forge the person's signature?
14 A. They didn't use the word forge.
15 They used the word as a surrogate signer.
16 And they they said it was legal. So
17 they never they didn't use the word forge
18
19 Q. And they said
20 A. they didn't say forge the name.
21 They just said this is legal. This person
22 is going to be this person's surrogate
23 signer, because this person has a lot to do.
24 Q. And they didn't tell you that this
25 person had to sign their signature the way,
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74 c. THOMAS
like, Tywanna signed
A. Right.
Q. they could sign their own?
A. Right, I could look at one here wi th
Ri ta Knowles. She definitely don't sign like
that, but she has a surrogate signer. So
the surrogate signer could sign however they
want, that's the way we were told. And
that's the form that we were shown, that the
surrogate signer could sign any way they want
to sign that name.
Q. And when they showed you that form,
did they tell you it was prepared by legal
counsel?
A. No, they just said it's legal and
this this is the process that we have
done, so now we can do it this way and this
is legal. And you kind of raise your
eyebrow, but other than that, nothing more
you could say.
Q. This Assignment of Mortgage,
Exhibit-B, was there any oath to this
assignment or sworn to materials?
A. You mean wi thin in the writing
part of it?
75 C. THOMAS
1 Q. Right, where was it necessary to
2 take any oaths? Did they swear to the
3 information being true and accurate?
4 A. To my knowledge, you signed it. You
5 didn't read it. You signed it. I don't
6 think any of these signers and I know
7 I don't want to say think. I know none of
8 these signers took the time to read that,
9 because you couldn't do that. You had to
10 sign, flip, keep going. You didn't you
11 didn't read every document. There was no
12 way. They would you couldn't do that.
13 Q. But, I mean, did you take oaths? Did
14 you swear these people in and take oaths?
15 A. Every time I went in to sign as a
16 notary, no.
17 Q. But there's no requirement on here
18 for you to take in to swear them in
19 A. No.
20 Q. or take oaths?
21 A. No.
22 Q. And do you know, firsthand, which
23 assignments were read and which ones were
24 not?
25 A. By the signers?
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76 C. THOMAS
Q. If you signed an assignment, would
you have read it?
A. No.
Q. As the notary?
A. No.
Q. And do you see anything that would
raise any any suspicion on this Assignment
of Mortgage, that of any Assignment of
Mortgage in Exhibit-B that you've seen? Is
10 there anything on this Assignment of Mortgage
11 that raises any issue with you?
12 A. It wouldn't raise an issue with me,
13 no, because, again, that would be one of her
14 surrogate signers and I wouldn I t question
15 this document. I would notarize it and keep
16 going.
17 Q. So today, you would still notarize
18 this Exhibit-B?
19
20
A. Correct.
MS. SUMACEWSKI:
21 anything further.
Okay.
22 FURTHER EXAMINATION
23 BY-MR. BLEVINS:
I don I t have
24 Q. Ms. Thomas, I just have a couple of
25 follow-ups.
77 C. THOMAS
1 When you said you would come in and
2 identify the people in the room, you said
3 something about there is her surrogate,
4 talking about Tywanna Thomas. Do you know
5
6 A. Or whoever.
7 Q. Okay. Or whoever.
8 Do you know specifically who Tywanna
9 Thomas's surrogate was?
10 A. I believe she had a couple. Again,
11 like I said, when when they hired a lot
12 of the temps, they they hired them mainly
13 for that purpose. Some for that purpose.
14 And, like, they hired some for notaries as
15 well. But they hired a lot of temps for
16 that purpose. At that time, her surrogate
17 was ... S ....
18 Q. 2 ?
19 A. Uh-huh.
20 Q. What's do you have a last name?
21 A. -. 22 Q. -, like ?
23 A. Correct. At one time, r
24 don't want r don't want to mess up her
25 last name, (phonetic), something like
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78 C. THOMAS
that.
Q. Could you spell it the best you
know?
A. ....... 1113." I want to say.
Q. Okay. And you said 7
A • •• _._ spelled like Tywanna, but
Q. Okay.
A. She was also one of her surrogate
signers. So to my knowledge, she had two.
If there was more, I can't recall. But to
my knowledge, she had two.
Q. How about the rest of the signers,
did they all have surrogates as well?
A. Rita Knowles had a surrogate. I
don't remember the guy's last name, but I
know hi-s first name. He was a temp. His
first name was Andrew. Linda Green also had
a surrogate. The guy's name was Chris
? I want to say. He was also a
temp .
Q. .-. or 7
A. r I think he was on one of
these documents here, ....... ' I think
it is. Yeah, , I guess that
79 C. THOMAS
1 is.
2 Q. And which are we looking at there?
3 A. That document (indicating).
4 MS. SUMACEWSKI: C-6.
5 Q. C-6. Okay.
6 A. And he was he was a surrogate
7 signer for Linda Green.
8 Q. tllbris was a surrogate for
9 Linda Green?
10 A. Correct. I think to my
11 knowledge, that's the only ones I can think
12 of at this moment
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. that I know that had surrogate
15 signers.
16 Q. And just to go back, Rita Knowles,
17 that's K-n-o-w-I-e-s?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. Okay. Now, do you have contact
20 information for any of these people? Do you
21 have phone numbers, addresses, or have you
22 talked to these people at all?
23 A. Surrogate signers or the people that
24 worked
25 Q. Any of them, • 7
80
I, c. THOMAS
$ Linda Green, Rita Knowles, d
2 if 2 " any of these people.
3 A. Can I say something off of the
4 record and and you could put it back on
5 if you need to?
6 Q. To be honest with you, Ms. Thomas,
7 it's probably best that it all be on the
8 record ....
9 A. Okay. Well
10 Q. because neither me or her
11 represent your interest, so I can't
12 A. Okay. To my knowledge you're
13 you're aware that the FBI is doing what
14 they're doing. So they have that
15 information. I don't have that information.
16 The only person I know is Tywanna Thomas,
17 because she's my daughter. She stays with
18 me. All of the other people, you know, I'm
19 I know Rita, but I I can't say
20 well, I have a phone number for her. I
21 can't say where she stays.
22 Q. You have a phone number for Rita
23 Knowles?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Okay.
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81 C. THOMAS
A. But I don't know where she stays.
Other than that, I don't I don't really
3 have that many that I contact after the job.
4 I don't really.
5 MS. SUMACEWSKI: I obj ect to the
6 relevancy of any people that are not included
7 on the Assignment of Mortgage, Exhibit-B.
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10
11
12
Q.
A.
Q .
A.
Q.
Okay. Do you have her phone number?
') Uh-huh. . -.-. Okay. And so you are I guess,
13 based on your you're talking about the
14 FBI, you're aware of the investigation into
15 DOCX and LPS, as far as the fraud issues?
16
17
A.
18 form.
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Q.
A.
Q.
A.
Q.
Right.
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Objection; relevancy;
Have they contacted you
Yes.
about that?
Have you talked to them?
Yes.
Okay. Is it was it similar to
25 what we're doing here today?
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82 C. THOMAS
A. Yes.
Q. And is everything you've told them
I mean, as best as you know, accurate and
correct as you told us here today?
A. Yes. Correct.
Q. Is there anything, Ms. Thomas, that
I didn't haven't asked you or we haven't
asked you collectively that you believe that
we need to .. know?
MS. SUMACEWSKI: Obj ection to
relevancy.
THE WITNESS: No, I can't think of
anything. You've pretty much asked
everything that the company did or we did at
the company. I I can't think of anything
else.
MR. BLEVINS: Okay. I don't have
any more questions.
Do you have any more questions?
MS. SUMACEWSKI: No, I'm done.
MR. BLEVINS: All right. Thank you.
(Whereupon, the Depos i tion of CHERYL
DENISE THOMAS concluded at 11:06 a.m.)
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3 STATE OF GEORGIA:
4 COUNTY OF FORSYTH:
83 C. THOMAS
CERTIFICATE
5
6 I hereby certify that the foregoing
7 transcript was reported, as stated in the
8 caption, and the questions and answers
9 thereto were reduced to typewriting under my
10 direction; that the foregoing pages represent
11 a true, complete and correct transcript of
12 the evidence given upon said hearing, and I
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further certify that I am not of kin or
counsel to the parties in the casej am not
in the employ of counsel for any of said
parties; nor am I in any way interested in
the result of said case.
Mary Ann Hanham
DATE: March 23, 2011
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84 C. THOMAS
CERTIFICATE
I, Mary Ann Hanham, a Court Reporter
4 and Notary Public in the State of New York,
5 do hereby certify that the foregoing record
6 taken by me at the time and place as noted
7 in the heading hereof, is a true and
8 accurate transcript of same, to the best of
9 my knowledge and belief.
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Mary Ann Hanham
Dated: March 24, 2011.
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85 C. THOMAS
CAPTION
The Deposition of CHERYL DENISE
3 THOMAS, taken in the matter, on the date,
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and at the time and place set out on the
title page hereof.
It was requested that the deposition
be taken by the reporter and that same be
reduced to typewritten form.
It was agreed by and between counsel
10 and the parties that the Deponent will read
11 and sign the transcript of said deposition.
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86 C. THOMAS
1 CERTIFICATE
2 STATE OF ____________________________________ __
3 COUNTY / CITY OF ______________________ _
4 Before me, this day, personally
5 appeared, CHERYL DENISE THOMAS, who, being duly
6 sworn, states that the foregoing transcript
7 of his/her Deposition, taken in the matter,
8 on the date, and at the time and place set
9 out on the title page hereof, constitutes a
10 true and accurate transcript of said
11 deposition.
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CHERYL DENISE THOMAS
SUBSCRIBED and SWORN to before me this
day of __________________ _ 2010 in the
17 jurisdiction aforesaid.
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My Commission Expires Notary Public
