What were banking regulators doing while some of the biggest U.S. lenders routinely filed false foreclosure documents in local courthouses around the country? In the case of IndyMac Federal Bank, it turns out the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was running the joint.

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The FDIC formed IndyMac Federal in July 2008 as the successor to the failed bank, and continued operating it in conservatorship before selling it in March 2009.

Among the sworn statements IndyMac filed with the court was a December 2008 affidavit by an IndyMac vice president, Erica Johnson-Seck, who said she had personal knowledge of the amount of money the Machados owed on the mortgage. That wasn't true, she later testified in a deposition. To be fair, there's every reason to believe the old IndyMac was engaged in this sort of conduct already, before it was shut down.