Tag Archives: Chase

Chase has opened two new Homeownership Centers in North Carolina to provide one-on-one help for borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments - one in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg and the second in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune. The company is staffing all of its Homeownership Centers near military bases with employees who have served in the military or military family members. Chase also recently set up Centers near bases in Texas and Virginia, and has plans for openings later this year in Tennessee and Washington.

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation is making a $1 million grant to help about 70 police officers and city employees move back to Detroit over the next two years. Mayor Dave Bing has launched several initiatives to strengthen Detroit's communities by bringing law enforcement and city employees into the areas where they work. Qualifying buyers will receive money for a down payment on vacant homes in select neighborhoods as part of the mayor's initiatives.

The nation's leading mortgage lenders are extending extras for short sale transactions employed as an alternative to foreclosure - both in the form of monetary incentives for borrowers and streamlined procedures for real estate agents. Wells Fargo has increased its financial relocation assistance to as much as $20,000 in states where the foreclosure process is lengthening. Bank of America is now allowing agents to submit a new backup offer for a short sale property if the original buyer has walked away.

Chase has opened its newest Homeownership Center near the U.S. military base in Fort Hood, Texas, to provide one-on-one help for homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. It is Chase's first Homeownership Center near a military base. The bank plans to open five other centers this year near military bases in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington state.

Chase, the consumer banking and home lending business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., opened a new Homeownership Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday. The facility provides Chase borrowers who are struggling to make their mortgage payments with resources to help them avoid foreclosure. Trained advisors are on hand to help distressed homeowners evaluate their finances, review possible workout options, and answer any questions.

In a joint announcement from JPMorgan Chase and U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jonathon Rowles, the financial services firm revealed it will provide $27 million in benefits to its military customers. The funds are part of a settlement to a class action lawsuit over financial protections due to military customers under the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA). JP Morgan admitted to violating the SCRA after the company wrongfully foreclosed on military families and overcharged thousands.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision announced formal enforcement actions Wednesday against 14 mortgage servicers and two firms that provide foreclosure-related services to the industry - LPS and MERS. The consent orders are the result of regulators' investigations into robo-signing allegations and represent a settlement with the firms involved, at least in part. Both the OCC and Fed say they believe monetary sanctions in these cases are also warranted, and they plan to pursue such actions separately.

There has been no shortage of reports of state attorneys general seeking accountability from servicers that they allege mishandled foreclosures. Now it's being reported that attorneys general in all 50 states are near to reaching settlements with the nation's top five mortgage servicers, including Bank of America and GMAC Mortgage. The states are looking to develop separate agreements, rather than one encompassing settlement; and they plan to pursue a civil investigation rather than a criminal one.

The industry's robo-signing problems were the focus on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Executives from major banks, including BofA and Chase, were on hand at a Senate Banking Committee hearing to defend the validity of their foreclosure actions and detail changes that have been made to ensure the integrity of the process. But lawmakers were hardnosed and unforgiving in their accusations. And the hearing was not without incident. Testimony was interrupted by the CEO of a nonprofit advocacy group yelling for distressed borrowers to get their say.

Industry data released Monday shows that the biggest originator of home loans is based on the West Coast, while the biggest mortgage servicer is based on the East Coast. With more than $100 billion in new home loans, Wells Fargo held onto the top spot among mortgage originators during the third quarter of this year. Bank of America took the lead spot in the mortgage servicer rankings, with just over $2 trillion in residential home loans in its servicing portfolio as of September 30th.