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224:, and the Office of Thrift Supervision announced enforcement actions against 14 large residential mortgage servicers and two third-party vendors for unsafe and unsound practices related to residential mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing; customers of 27 mortgage servicers (listed below) may be eligible for compensation.
137:. The Independent Foreclosure Review provided homeowners the opportunity to request an independent review of their foreclosure process. If the review found that financial injury occurred because of errors or other problems during their home foreclosure process, the homeowners could receive compensation or other remedy.
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There have been allegations that the banks themselves have a heavy hand in the review process. News sources, which are citing e-mails, employee interviews and contracts, suggested that the biggest offenders—Bank of
America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase—appeared to be conducting much of
216:
On
February 28, 2013, the OCC and the Federal Reserve announced a replacement program for 13 banks and servicers, while 3 of the original banks decided to keep the Independent Foreclosure Review Process. The replacement program includes US$ 3.6 billion in direct cash payments to homeowners and $ 5.7
391:
As we will demonstrate in later posts in this series, even making the most generous interpretation possible of the role played by
Promontory, Promontory's review at Bank of America completely omitted significant categories of borrower harm that were explicitly discussed both in the OCC consent order
395:
The organizational design, the way the reviewers were managed, the elimination of areas of inquiry, and evidence of records tampering with Bank of
America records all point to a multifaceted, if not necessarily well orchestrated, program to make sure as much damaging information as possible was not
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The third-party consultant assessed whether any errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies resulted in financial injury to borrowers. Where a borrower suffered financial injury as a result of such practices, the consent orders required remediation to be provided. During the review, customers
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that provided examples of errors in foreclosures covered by the regulators' consent orders that require compensation or other remediation as directed in the regulators' April 2011 orders. The consultants use the framework to recommend remediation for financial injury identified during the
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The OCC also released engagement letters that describe how the independent consultants, retained by the servicers, will conduct their file reviews and claims processes to identify borrowers who suffered financial injury as a result of deficiencies identified in the OCC's consent orders.
208:
Independent
Foreclosure Review. The servicers prepare remediation plans based on the consultants' recommendations. The federal banking regulators had to approve each servicer's remediation plan. The framework helped ensure that similarly situated borrowers receive similar treatment.
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To be eligible, the mortgage must have been active in the foreclosure process between
January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, the property securing the loan must have been the primary residence, and the mortgage must have been serviced by one of the following mortgage servicers:
450:
194:
On June 21, 2012, the OCC released its second interim report on the status of the
Independent Foreclosure Review and actions required by consent orders issued in April 2011 to correct deficient mortgage servicing and foreclosure processes.
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Yves Smith, in her financial blog Naked
Capitalism, wrote a thorough analysis of the Independent Foreclosure Review, interviewing several former reviewers on the practices used both by Bank of America, and its review contractor
152:. Fourteen mortgage servicers and their affiliates were instructed to identifying customers who were part of a foreclosure action on their primary residence between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
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After extensive debriefing of Bank of
America whistleblowers, we found overwhelming evidence that the bank engaged in certain abuses frequently, in some cases pervasively, in its servicing of delinquent
511:
586:
537:
162:
On April 25, 2013, Representative Elijah
Cummings introduced legislation to create a monitor for the Independent Foreclosure Review: HR 1706, "The Mortgage Settlement Monitoring Act of 2013"
468:
451:"Cash Payments for Independent Foreclosure Review Will Begin Being Mailed April 12, Senate Banking Committee Will Hold Hearing about the Independent Foreclosure Reviews"
203:
On June 21, 2012, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released a financial remediation framework
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156:
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Note: Both Litton Loan Servicing (owned by Goldman Sachs) and Saxon Mortgage (owned by Morgan Stanley) also signed consent orders with regulators.
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Agencies release financial remediation guidance, extend deadline for requesting a free independent foreclosure review to September 30, 2012
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587:"Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (Part I - Executive Summary)"
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141:
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in an attempt to provide aid to homeowners who had either received their Notice of Default, or were in danger of foreclosure.
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538:"Independent Foreclosure Review: Update on $ 3.6 Billion in Cash Payments and $ 5.7 Billion in Modification Assistance"
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512:"Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Second Interim Report on the Status of the Independent Foreclosure Review"
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could be contacted by mortgage servicers for additional information at the direction of the independent consultant.
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The initiative was initially established as part of a consent order with federal bank regulators, the
469:"New Federal Bill Introduced to Create Independent Monitor to Oversee Independent Foreclosure Review"
35:
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488:. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, US Department of the Treasury. Archived from
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This settlement, as intended, was yet another significant bailout to predatory servicers.
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Requests for review had to be postmarked or submitted online by December 31, 2012.
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569:"Mounting Evidence Calls Into Question So-Called Independent Foreclosure Review"
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billion in loss mitigation assistance intended to keep people in their homes.
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the review work themselves, compromising the independence of the review.
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On April 13, 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the
148:(independent bureaus of the U.S. Department of the Treasury), and the
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who had either received their Notice of Default, or were in danger of
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was an initiative in the United States to attempt to provide aid to
24:
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http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20130116a.htm
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The Independent Foreclosure Review was created in response to the
405:
The payment structure can be found on the Federal Reserve site
133:
in early 2010's. The review was initiated as a result of the
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and Promontory's engagement letter with Bank of America.
554:
Federal Reserve Press Release, Dated January 16, 2013
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The Federal Reserve announced on April 9, 2013, that
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
159:would begin mailing out checks on April 12, 2013.
598:
222:Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
199:Agencies publish financial remediation framework
150:Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
142:Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
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16:U.S. initiative to provide aid to homeowners
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425:"Independent Foreclosure Review FAQ Page"
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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607:Bank regulation in the United States
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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380:Her findings showed, in her words:
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486:"Correcting Foreclosure Practices"
282:EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company
146:Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
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567:Hallman, Ben (October 23, 2012).
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58:"Independent foreclosure review"
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34:needs additional citations for
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123:independent foreclosure review
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347:Wilshire Credit Corporation
237:America's Servicing Company
171:Establishment of the review
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375:Promontory Financial Group
364:Allegations of impropriety
212:Replacement Programme 2013
177:Foreclosure Crisis of 2010
135:Foreclosure Crisis of 2010
305:IndyMac Mortgage Services
396:considered or minimized.
338:Washington Mutual (WaMu)
279:EMC Mortgage Corporation
243:BAC Home Loans Servicing
166:Background and timeline
343:Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
312:National City Mortgage
228:Eligibility for review
542:The Customer Bullhorn
455:The Customer Bullhorn
544:. February 28, 2013.
240:Aurora Loan Services
43:improve this article
589:. January 22, 2013.
518:on 26 January 2013
355:Engagement letters
252:Beneficial Finance
471:. April 25, 2013.
401:Payment structure
334:Wachovia Mortgage
326:SunTrust Mortgage
286:Financial Freedom
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99:December 2023
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60: –
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54:Find sources:
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32:This article
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520:. Retrieved
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494:. Retrieved
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433:. Retrieved
429:the original
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317:PNC Mortgage
308:MetLife Bank
271:CitiMortgage
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41:Please help
36:verification
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612:Foreclosure
275:Countrywide
131:foreclosure
601:Categories
411:References
385:mortgages.
127:homeowners
69:newspapers
330:U.S. Bank
573:HuffPost
262:Citibank
83:scholar
522:4 July
496:4 July
435:4 July
144:, the
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257:Chase
90:JSTOR
76:books
524:2012
498:2012
437:2012
301:HSBC
121:The
62:news
296:HFC
45:by
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