Robo-Signers
By Krista Franks Brock | 02/21/2012
With more than 100,000 vacant properties in the state, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine designated part of Ohio’s $335 million from the national settlement with the nation’s largest servicers for property demolition. However, not everyone agrees with the decision. "We would have much rather spent that money helping families and creating homes rather than knocking houses down that we believe are owned by some very well-resourced banks," said Chris Warren, Cleveland's chief of regional development, according to the Huffington Post.
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By Krista Franks | 02/20/2012
Connecticut is set to receive more than $190 million from the multi-state settlement with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers. "There are many reasons why I believe this settlement is good for Connecticut, but the most important reason is this: it provides immediate help to thousands of Connecticut homeowners at a time when they can still use that help to save their homes," said Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who served on the negotiating committee that established the settlement with the banks.
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By Carrie Bay | 02/17/2012
An audit of San Francisco foreclosures conducted by county officials revealed documentation errors were evident in nearly all of the cases examined. Auditors reviewed 382 case files that resulted in a foreclosure sale between January 2009 and October 2011. They identified one or more irregularities in 99 percent of the loans and one or more violations of state law in 84 percent. San Francisco's Office of the Assessor‐Recorder says it hopes to open a dialogue on the importance of compliance with state laws so that corrective action can be taken.
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By Krista Franks Brock | 02/17/2012
Reluctant attorneys general for New York and Delaware both signed on to the multi-state $25 billion settlement last week with the nation's largest servicers, securing $740 million and $45 million for their states, respectively. The two attorneys general were lured back to the settlement in its final days when they were assured the settlement would not impede further investigation into additional civil and criminal claims at the five mortgage servicers – Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and GMAC.
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By Carrie Bay | 02/15/2012
Consumers who want their foreclosure cases checked by a third party as part of federal regulators' independent foreclosure review directive now have until July 31, 2012, to submit their requests. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Wednesday that the deadline has been pushed out by three months to give consumers more time to file for a case assessment if they believe they suffered financial injury as a result of errors in foreclosure actions in 2009 or 2010.
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By Krista Franks | 02/10/2012
While the $25 billion settlement between five of the nation's largest servicers and 49 of the state attorneys general awaits approval from a judge, there is some relief in the industry that the 16 months of investigation and negotiation has come to a close. Mike Heid, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, says the agreement represents "a very important step toward restoring confidence in mortgage servicing and stability in the housing market."
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By Carrie Bay | 02/09/2012
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve issued statements Thursday detailing monetary penalties they have levied against the nation's largest servicers for "unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices." The OCC is assessing a total of $394 million in penalties against Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. The Federal Reserve's monetary sanctions total $766.5 million and target the same four institutions as well as Ally Financial.
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By Krista Franks | 02/09/2012
Thursday's unprecedented $25 billion settlement between federal and state officials and the nation's top mortgage servicers was especially favorable to California. After leaving settlement negotiations in September, claiming the proposal at the time was inadequate for California homeowners, Attorney General Kamala Harris opted to sign on to the final settlement, which was revised to secure $18 billion for the state of California. At the time Harris left the settlement, California was expected to receive about $4 billion from the banks.
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By Esther Cho | 02/09/2012
While the $25 billion robo-signing settlement concludes 16 months of intense negotiations, questions still remain on how this will impact borrowers and the larger economy. Capital Economics stated that while it is good that the settlement has been finalized and will offer principal reductions and refinancing schemes to borrowers, the bigger picture is that the settlement is not large enough to dramatically alter the outlook for the housing market or the wider economy.
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By Krista Franks | 02/09/2012
Federal and state officials announced Thursday morning that the federal government and 49 state attorneys general - with Oklahoma as the lone exception - have reached a $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to address what authorities describe as "loan servicing and foreclosure abuses." The settlement with the nation's top five servicers – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) - provides financial relief to homeowners and establishes new homeowner protections.
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