Another day, another business hit over the head with a multi-million settlement over faulty foreclosure practices. We’ve already seen big retail banks and heavy-hitting investment banks pay the price for robo-signing foreclosures and engaging in other suspect loan servicing activities and now Florida-based business Lender Processing Services will be paying $120 million to 46 states to settle similar allegations.

The attorneys general for those states banded together and went after LPS and its subsidiaries — LPS Default Solutions and DocX — in a recent investigation, alleging that the company and its subsidiaries engaged in robo-signing of foreclosure documents as well and other shady practices when dealing with foreclosed homeowners.

LPS provides support to banks and mortgage loan servicers, and apparently the pressure to get the job done for its clients turned the company into a veritable assembly line of rubber-stamping, claimed the attorneys general.

One dodgy practice from DocX called “surrogate signing” involved a person signing the documents on behalf of someone else without authorization and proceeding with notarizing them as if the real person had signed them. Sounds like straight-up fakery shenanigans, if you ask us.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office released a statement about the settlement, saying (via the Chicago Sun-Times):  “LPS and its subsidiaries became a sort of document factory, literally rubber stamping thousands of foreclosures with no regard for fairness and accuracy in the process.”

The settlement will require LPS and its subsidiaries to shape up its practices and correct any faulty documents from between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2010 already filed in homeowner foreclosure proceedings.

While each state’s share of the settlement won’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things, it’s encouraging to see those involved in taking away someone’s home are being held accountable and made to execute such actions the right way. Finally.

$120 million settlement reached over faulty foreclosure practices [Chicago Sun-Times]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.