Amends orders memorialise $9.3b accord
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board today released amendments to their enforcement actions against 13 mortgage servicers for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing. The amendments require the servicers to provide $9.3 billion in payments and other assistance to borrowers.
The amendments memorialize agreements in principle announced in January with Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The amount includes $3.6 billion in cash payments and $5.7 billion in other assistance to borrowers such as loan modifications and forgiveness of deficiency judgments.
Borrowers covered by the amendments include 4.2 million people whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 and whose mortgages were serviced by one of the companies listed above. These borrowers are expected to be contacted by the Paying Agent--Rust Consulting, Inc.--by the end of March 2013 with payment details. The Paying Agent will send payments and correspondence.Borrowers can call the Paying Agent at 1-888-9529105 to update their contact information or to verify that they are covered by the amendments. In providing the $5.7 billion in assistance, the 13 servicers are expected to undertake well-structured loss mitigation efforts focused on foreclosure prevention, with preference given to activities designed to keep borrowers in their homes through affordable, sustainable, and meaningful home preservation actions.
For the 13 servicers, these amendments to the enforcement actions replace the requirements related to the Independent Foreclosure Review. For GMAC Mortgage, Everbank, and OneWest, which did not enter agreements in principle with federal regulators, the Independent Foreclosure Review process continues. Regulators expect the reviews for these servicers to be completed over the course of the coming year.