Arizonans eligible in PHH settlement

Lender will pay out $45 million for questionable actions during housing crash

More than 2,000 Arizona families are eligible for part of a $45 million settlement with PHH Mortgage Corp. for its handling of mortgage payments and foreclosure aid during the housing crash.

Forty-eight states, including Arizona, reached a settlement with the New Jersey-based mortgage lender and servicer. The settlement was announced Wednesday.

The deal resolves allegations that PHH charged borrowers unauthorized fees, failed to process requests for loan modifications and threatened homeowners with foreclosure while they were in a program to keep their houses, according to the settlement filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Homeowners foreclosed on by PHH between 2009 and 2012 qualify for at least $840 from the settlement. Borrowers who faced foreclosure by the lender but didn’t lose homes will receive a minimum of $285.

Homeowners eligible for money from the deal will be contacted by a settlement administrator, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

“Predatory mortgage servicing abuses put thousands of Arizona families into foreclosure,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement. “Our settlement holds PHH accountable and requires new servicing standards to help ensure that PHH won’t harm consumers again.”

Several big lenders and mortgage servicers, including Bank of America and HSBC, have been sued and reached settlements for bad mortgage practices during the housing crash.

In a statement, PPH said the $45 million settlement “is not an admission of liability or that we (the company) violated any applicable laws.”

The settlement includes approximately $30 million in payments to 52,000 PHH borrowers nationwide.