In spite of their nickname, “robo-signers” — those hired to process the mountain of foreclosure documents during the recent recession — are flesh and blood human beings. And like many human beings, they also know very little about mortgages and foreclosures.

According to a Florida lawyer who represents around 3,000 homeowners, the people installed into “foreclosure expert” gigs with minimal or no training didn’t exactly have extensive financial and/or real estate backgrounds. Rather, they were people with unrelated jobs like hair stylists, retail and assembly line work.

Writes the AP:

In depositions released Tuesday, many of those workers testified that they barely knew what a mortgage was. Some couldn’t define the word “affidavit.” Others didn’t know what a complaint was, or even what was meant by personal property. Most troubling, several said they knew they were lying when they signed the foreclosure affidavits and that they agreed with the defense lawyers’ accusations about document fraud.

According to reports, one deposed “foreclosure supervisor” from Litton Loan Servicing (a division of Goldman Sachs) couldn’t define basic terms like “promissory note,” “mortgagee,” “lien,” “receiver,” or “defendant.”

She testified that she didn’t know what the required conditions were for a bank to foreclose or who the holder of the mortgage note was.

In a statement that basically sums up the entire clusterf*ck, she testified, “I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan, I just sign documents.”

Because of revelations like this, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC/Ally have temporarily stopped foreclosures and foreclosure sales in a number of states.

Robo-signers: Mortgage experience not necessary [Salon]

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