Tag Archives: OCC

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board both announced Tuesday that the independent foreclosure reviews of 14 large servicers issued in April are now under way. About 4.5 million borrowers could have their loans reviewed and potentially be compensated for imposed financial hardship, according to a previous statement by the OCC. The federal regulator says the review will take several months due to the sheer volume of cases to evaluate.

Data released Thursday by a federal banking regulator provides a snapshot of mortgage performance over the second quarter of this year. Both early stage and serious delinquencies increased slightly compared to the previous three-month period, as did completed foreclosures, while new modification actions fell nearly 20 percent. Perhaps the most troubling result in the report is post-modification performance. Of loans modified since the beginning of 2008, nearly half have since gone delinquent.

It will be a long road ahead for the 14 servicers who received consent orders from federal regulators earlier this year. Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh says the servicers will spend the next year or more recompensing for past foreclosure errors. Servicers must hire independent consultants to audit cases from 2009 and 2010, set up dedicated websites and toll-free numbers, and launch massive mailing and advertising campaigns to reach borrowers who may have been affected.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is calling for independent reviews of almost 4.5 million loans. After examining 200 loans from each of 14 major servicers, regulators determined enforcement actions were necessary, but said their review was not nearly enough to answer all questions. In addition to assessments of individual cases, the OCC is implementing a complaint process for borrowers who feel they faced financial harm as a result of an improper foreclosure action.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) appointed the FDIC receiver of the First National Bank of Florida late Friday evening, making it the 71st FDIC-insured institution to go under this year. The OCC said it acted after finding that the bank ""had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings due to unsafe or unsound practices."" CharterBank out of Georgia agreed to take over the failed bank's operations.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, announced an investigation of mortgage servicers Monday. The investigation will be conducted through the Senate Judiciary Committee and will examine foreclosure policies and procedures at top mortgage servicers. ""The rate of foreclosure and families that struggle with their mortgage payments is one of the single largest barriers to economic recovery that we still see today,"" Blumenthal says.

Putting struggling borrowers into mortgages with more manageable monthly payments via a loan modification is a key element of the industry's effort to cut the nation's foreclosure crisis short. A recent study by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) took a look at loan performance post-modification. The regulators found that more recent modifications have performed better than earlier modifications, reflecting an increasing emphasis on lower monthly payments and sustainability.

At a hearing Thursday, two House Financial Services subcommittees came together to discuss the role of federal agencies in the creation of new mortgage servicing standards and settlements with the nation's largest mortgage servicers on foreclosure practices. Witnesses called for new universal standards for the servicing industry. ""Improving mortgage servicing will take both market reforms and regulatory reforms,"" said Mark Pearce of the FDIC.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has laid out its expectations for national banks' handling of mortgage foreclosures. The federal agency says all servicers under OCC supervision must observe the same stipulations handed down to a handful of servicers in April as part of the regulatory settlement for robo-signing infractions. National banks are directed to conduct a self-assessment of their foreclosure management practices by September 30, and take immediate action to correct any deficiencies.

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national banks and thrifts improved in the first quarter as troubled loans worked through the system, according to a report released Wednesday by federal regulators. Their analysis of servicing portfolios as a whole found that loans serviced for government agencies and the GSEs are outperforming those held by banks and thrifts on their own books. Nevertheless, delinquencies improved across all risk categories and for all asset owners, while newly started foreclosures declined sharply.