Federal Government & State Attorneys General Reach $25 Billion Agreement with five Mortgage Servicers to Address Mortgage Loan Servicing & Foreclosure Abuses
WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Colorado Attorney General John W. Suthers announced today that the federal government and 49 state attorneys general (sans Oklahoma)* have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers (Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company,** Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc.{formerly GMAC}) to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. The agreement provides substantial financial relief {cough....cough...} to homeowners and establishes significant new homeowner protections {cough...hack....cough}...for the future.
The unprecedented joint agreement is the largest federal-state civil settlement ever obtained and is the result of extensive investigations by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, HUD and the HUD Office of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG), and state attorneys general and state banking regulators across the country. The joint federal-state group entered into the agreement with the nation’s 5 largest mortgage servicers.
The agreement resolves certain violations of civil law based on mortgage loan servicing activities. The agreement does not prevent state and federal authorities from pursuing criminal enforcement actions related to this or other conduct by the servicers. The agreement does not prevent the government from punishing wrongful securitization conduct that will be the focus of the new Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group. The United States also retains its full authority to recover losses and penalties caused to the federal government when a bank failed to satisfy underwriting standards on a government-insured or government-guaranteed loan. The agreement does not prevent any action by individual borrowers who wish to bring their own lawsuits. State attorneys general also preserved, among other things, all claims against the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), and all claims brought by borrowers..:....(Read the rest)For another perspective: The top 12 reasons you should HATE the mortgage settlement
and David Dayen at Firedoglake: 49-State Foreclosure Fraud Settlement - Details*
* Oklahoma AG (Scott Pruitt) felt banks - owed NOTHING - and wouldn't agree to settlement
**Wells Fargo: ...The states and federal prosecutors agreed to relieve Wells Fargo from any claims and allegations on servicing, modification and foreclosure practices, including some claims related to the origination of mortgages (WHAT !!.. Are you serious??)
...(Read Wells FRAUDgo statement)
Photo courtesy: williambanzai7
And of course...click below link for:
INDEPENDENT Foreclosure Review.***
***For borrowers who lost their home to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011,
a settlement administrator designated by the attorneys general will send claim forms to persons eligible for cash restitution. If you believe you are eligible for relief under this settlement but are concerned you will be difficult to locate
10-page pdf document:
"Return Integrity & Accuracy"{we never had it!} to Foreclosure and Bankruptcy (HERE)
For more information about the mortgage servicing settlement, go to:
http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/
And simultaneously from the
OCC Settles Civil Money Penalties Against Large National Bank Mortgage Servicers for $394 Million; Penalty Assessment Coordinated with Servicers' Actions and Payments Under Federal-State Settlement
WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced agreements in principle with four large national bank mortgage servicers (Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) to settle civil money penalties in connection with the unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices that were the subject of comprehensive cease and desist orders issued by the OCC in April 2011.
Today’s announcement.......{The} OCC agrees to hold in abeyance imposition of such penalties provided the servicers ......take other actions under the federal-state settlement with a value equal to at least the penalty amounts that each servicer acknowledges....
The amounts for each servicer:
$164 million for Bank of America,
$113 million for JPMorgan Chase,
$83 million for Wells Fargo and
$34 million for Citibank,
If after three(3) years, a servicer has not paid an amount equal to its respective penalty, the OCC will assess a penalty against the servicer..... (Read the rest here)
