Very soon more than 4 million homeowners whose houses were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010 will be eligible for a free review of their foreclosure cases. Federal regulators from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, indicated that 14 major mortgage servicers will be mailing letters to these homeowners to check if they were victims of fraudulent foreclosure practices. The Servicers participating in the program are: America’s Servicing Co., Aurora Loan Services, Bank of America, Beneficial, Chase, Citibank, CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage, Countrywide, EMC, EverBank/Everhome Mortgage, First Horizon, GMAC Mortgage, HFC, HSBC, IndyMac, MetLife, National City, PNC, Sovereign Bank, SunTrust Mortgage, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo.
During the beginning and height of the foreclosure crisis banks employed many nasty little practices to cut corners and hurry the foreclosure process along. These practices included, but were not limited to, having the wrong person sign foreclosure documents that were later sent to the court, having documents notarized by persons not licensed in the foreclosing state, giving improper notice or no notice were notice is required, moving to foreclose where the mortgage note is not in the possession of the foreclosing bank, and etc. And all of this occurred with no regulation or review of the “foreclosure mills” law firms that processed massive amounts of foreclosures. And even though exposed, a Reuters investigative report says these practices continue today.
Many of the above egregious practices have become uncovered in just the last year, for example by the 60 Minutes show, and by several Attorney’s Generals offices around the country, and by the investigation of law firm foreclosure mills around the country. These actions are a good start. However, the impact of the egregious actions of the banks on the families can not be under stated.
According to Realtytrac: a record 2.8 million properties with a mortgage got a foreclosure notice 2009, jumping 21 percent from 2008 and 120 percent from 2007. Then in 2010, 2.87 million properties got notices of default, auction or repossession. This was a 2 percent gain from a year earlier. And whats interesting about this number is that the numbers rose despite the fact that lenders came under scrutiny for their practices.
So with nearly 5 million families and homes being foreclosed on in the two target years of the new program, many questions will have to be answered. For example: if a home was illegally foreclosed on and then bought by a new buyer, who now owns the home? Or what about families who can't prove illegal papers were submitted by the bank but were eligible for a modification and the bank’s process took so long that they were foreclosed on anyway? Or will any bank executive be prosecuted for allowing illegal foreclosures by their bank? Or what monetary compensation will be available to homeowners who have been wrongfully foreclosed on? Or whether banks participating in the federal settlement be released from further claims that victims of fraud might have if said victims won compensation through the remediation process? Or who will actually be doing the review of the more than 4 million foreclosure files that occurred between 2009 and 2010?
As for the last question, who the reviewers will be, lets hope that it is not any firm or organization connected in any way to the banks who’s actions that are being reviewed. Also, the task of contacting so many people will be difficult. Many of the families who were foreclosed on have moved, because they had to. Some families, thinking they had no reason to challenge the bank(s), just walked away. And some families, waited until the Sheriff evicted them. In any event, getting an accurate account of the harm done by just sending letters to people who have been foreclosed on will be challenging. What will have to happen is a major education campaign, paid for by the banks, letting homeowners know that they can have their foreclosure reviewed for free. Beyond mailing this can be done by radio, television and newspaper ads that seek a wider net and a wider audience. But the review should not just be limited to home owners faced with foreclosure between 2009 and 2010. Although those were record years for foreclosure in the U.S., it certainly leaves out all those who’s home were lost in 2007 and 2008 when the crisis began. This would mean nearly an additional 3 million home owners. Are those home owners not worthy of review?
Moreover, the impact of illegally foreclosing on families impact more than just the immediate families or homeowners foreclosed on. In many communities foreclosed homes liter the blocks. Boarded up and squatted in, many of these same houses have brought down the value of entire neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have a claim too! These affected communities, if they can prove a direct link, should bring suit against the banks and foreclosure mills as well.
So lets cast a wider net, in attempt to include as many people as possible. Lots of people and families have been negatively impacted by foreclosure. Let them tell their story. If they were wrongly foreclosed upon, then they should be compensated. And the banks who made so much money through the boom years will have to pay the bill. If you think a review would help you follow this link: http://independentforeclosurereview.com/ for more information about the review process. Assistance is also available at 1-888-952-9105.
William Simms
info@ehomeassistance.com
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