My step daughter while in Iraq purchased a property in Calif. She is now out of the military and realizes she can not afford the payments. She purchased the property using the listing agent as her agent also. She used a Loan Broker for the loan. My wife, her mother, had power of Attorney and signed all documents except the closing documents. The Lenders, for the First and Second trust deeds, required that she be there to sign the closing documents and take possession of the home personally. This was not possible as she was in Iraq. The loan broker has a friend who is a notary that notarized a forged signature to satisfy the lenders requirement that my stepdaughter be there to close. The question is can she now back away from this deal some months later because of the forgery of her signature without going through foreclosure?

YOu need to consult and attorney on this matter, Fraud is apparent from the loan broker, the notary and possibly your step daughter and her mother..

This is a sticky area.

Yes please contact an attorney, since your daughter and her mother was part of this fraud, they also could hold some liability from criminal issues on this.

I think she would be a lot better off if she just sells the home for as much as she can. Since the loan broker is a part of it, they have some ability to help this.

Please be aware everyone who had knowledge of this, is a party to it.

This can get very serious as it comes to light.

It is very RARE that anyone would FORCE someone to be present at a real estate closing... usually signatures just have to be notarized and IDs checked. Documents can be signed ANYWHERE now and documents transmitted electronically.

You are not relaying something or have incorrect information regarding what was actually required.