Independent Foreclosure Review Claims Due by 12/31/2012

Independent Foreclosure Review Claims Due by 12/31/2012

By Daniel Edstrom

Claims for the wrongful actions of servicers are due under the Independent Foreclosure Review by 12/31/2012. Claims can be entered through the Independent Foreclosure Reviews website at https://independentforeclosurereview.com/

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System have oversight. Mortgage servicers involved are the following:

  • America’s Servicing Co.
  • Aurora Loan Services
  • BAC Home Loans Servicing
  • Bank of America
  • Beneficial
  • Chase
  • Citibank
  • CitiFinancial
  • CitiMortgage
  • Countrywide
  • EMC
  • EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company
  • Financial Freedom
  • GMAC Mortgage
  • HFC
  • HSBC
  • IndyMac Mortgage Services
  • MetLife Bank
  • National City Mortgage
  • PNC Mortgage
  • Sovereign Bank
  • SunTrust Mortgage
  • U.S. Bank
  • Wachovia
  • Washington Mutual
  • Wells Fargo
  • Wilshire Credit Corporation

GMAC Residential Capital Lists 200-999 Creditors, Failing to Disclose Tens of Thousands of Homeowner Claims

GMAC Residential Capital Lists 200-999 Creditors, Failing to Disclose Tens of Thousands of Homeowner Claims

By Daniel Edstrom
DTC Systems, Inc.

Note that the original article has been updated to fix my mistake of showing 299 creditors when the number of creditors listed on the Voluntary Petition was 200-999.  On April 13, 2011 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a Cease and Desist Consent Order against Ally Financial Inc. fka GMAC LLC, Ally Bank fka GMAC Bank, Residential Capital LLC (and its direct and indirect subsidiaries) and GMAC Mortgage LLC.  During the period of 1/1/2009 to 12/31/2010, the Mortgage Servicing Companies completed 89,998 foreclosure actions, representing less than 4 percent of the Servicing Portfolio over such such time period.  View the attached Voluntary Petition below to see the number of creditors identified.   The regulators found the following:

WHEREAS, in connection with the process leading to certain foreclosures involving the Servicing Portfolio, the Mortgage Servicing Companies allegedly:

  1. Filed or caused to be filed in state courts and in connection with bankruptcy proceedings in federal courts numerous affidavits executed by employees of the Mortgage Servicing Companies or employees of third-party providers making various assertions, such as the ownership of the mortgage note and mortgage, the amount of principal and interest due, and the fees and expenses chargeable to the borrower, in which the affiant represented that the assertions in the affidavit were made based on personal knowledge or based on a review by the affiant of the relevant books and records, when, in many cases, they were not based on such knowledge or review;
  2. Filed or caused to be filed in courts in various states and in connection with bankruptcy proceedings in federal courts or in the local land record offices, numerous affidavits and other mortgage-related documents that were not properly notarized, including those not signed or affirmed in the presence of a notary;
  3. Litigated foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings and initiated non-judicial foreclosures without always confirming that documentation of ownership was in order at the appropriate time, including confirming that the promissory note and mortgage document were properly endorsed or assigned and, if necessary, in the possession of the appropriate party;
  4. Failed to respond in a sufficient and timely manner to the increased level of foreclosures by increasing financial, staffing, and managerial resources to ensure that the Mortgage Servicing Companies adequately handled the foreclosure process; and failed to respond in a sufficient and timely manner to the increased level of Loss Mitigation Activities to ensure timely, effective and efficient communication with borrowers with respect to Loss Mitigation Activities and foreclosure activities; and
  5. Failed to have adequate internal controls, policies and procedures, compliance risk management, internal audit, training, and oversight of the foreclosure process, including sufficient oversight of outside counsel and other third-party providers handling foreclosure-related services with respect to the Servicing Portfolio. Continue reading “GMAC Residential Capital Lists 200-999 Creditors, Failing to Disclose Tens of Thousands of Homeowner Claims”

Fannie Mae Announces Year-End Servicer Performance Scorecard Results

Fannie Mae Announces Year-End Servicer Performance Scorecard Results

By Daniel Edstrom
DTC Systems, Inc.

Quote from news release dated March 15, 2012:

The STAR Program was created to establish standards and recognize excellence among Fannie Mae servicers in their overall performance, customer service, and foreclosure prevention efforts.

Another Quote:

Overall STAR performance rankings are issued on an annual basis each April.

Apparently Fannie Mae missed the flood of Cease and Desist Consent Orders issued by various government regulators on April 13, 2011 for unsafe or unsound foreclosure policies and practices.  The government regulators were the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Fannie Mae has apparently missed the fact that nothing has changed and the servicers are not abiding by the Cease and Desist Consent Orders, unless they are doing this in secret or on a limited basis.

Here is the text of the news release, followed by the STAR Scorecard results for the previous quarters in 2011. Continue reading “Fannie Mae Announces Year-End Servicer Performance Scorecard Results”

State of Missouri 136 Count Indictment – 68 Class C Felonies for Forgery and 68 Class B Misdemeanors for False Declarations

State of Missouri 136 Count Indictment – 68 Class C Felonies for Forgery and 68 Class B Misdemeanors for False Declarations

By Daniel Edstrom
DTC Systems, Inc.

Thanks to Charles Cox and George Christian for locating this indictment.  Each count lists either a forgery or a misdemeanor.  DOCX LLC is named throughout the indictment.  On April 13, 2011 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Officer of Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision issued a Cease and Desist Consent Order against Lender Processing Services, Inc., DocX, LLC and LPS Default Solutions, Inc. making the following findings:

WHEREAS, in providing document execution services to Examined Servicers, including services that facilitated completing foreclosures, LPS and its employees allegedly:

(a) Executed numerous affidavits and similar sworn statements (collectively, “Affidavits”) making various assertions, such as the ownership of the mortgage note and mortgage (or deed of trust), the amount of principal and interest due, and the fees and expenses chargeable to the borrower, in which the affiant represented that the assertions in the Affidavit were made based on personal knowledge or based on a review by the affiant of the relevant books and records, when, in many cases, they were not based on such knowledge or review. LPS executed these Affidavits on behalf of Examined Servicers knowing they would be filed in state courts and in connection with bankruptcy proceedings in federal courts; Continue reading “State of Missouri 136 Count Indictment – 68 Class C Felonies for Forgery and 68 Class B Misdemeanors for False Declarations”

Interagency Independent Foreclosure Review – File Your CLAIM

Interagency Independent Foreclosure Review – File Your CLAIM

By Daniel Edstrom
DTC Systems, Inc.

The following regarding the numerous Cease and Desist Consent Orders issued against servicers and others for unsafe or unsound foreclosure policies and practices is available here: http://www.independentforeclosurereview.com/

Independent Foreclosure Review

Looking for information about the Independent Foreclosure Review? Si usted habla español, tenemos representantes que pueden asistirle en su idioma.

Homeowners whose primary residence was part of a foreclosure action between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, and whose home loan was serviced by a participating servicer, may be eligible for an Independent Foreclosure Review.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (federal bank regulators) have required an Independent Foreclosure Review by an independent consultant to identify eligible customers who may have been financially injured due to errors, misrepresentations or other deficiencies in their foreclosure process. If the review finds that financial injury occurred, the customer may receive compensation or other remedy.

To qualify, your mortgage loan would need to meet the initial eligibility criteria: Continue reading “Interagency Independent Foreclosure Review – File Your CLAIM”

Wells Fargo Fined $85,000,000.00 for Falsifying Information on Loan Applications

Wells Fargo Fined $85,000,000.00 for Falsifying Information on Loan Applications

By Daniel Edstrom
DTC Systems, Inc.

On July 20, 2011, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued an Order to Cease and Desist and Order of Assessment of a Civil Money Penalty Issued Upon Consent to Wells Fargo & Company and Wells Fargo Financial, Inc.

Here is an excerpt from this Order:

WHEREAS, this Order is issued with respect to the following allegations:

A. During the period from at least January 2004 to the Reorganization (the “Relevant Period”), Financial’s business model with respect to home mortgage lending was to sell debt consolidation, cash-out refinance loans at sub-prime rates (“nonprime loans”) to customers principally through a network of more than 800 offices located throughout the United States, called “stores.” The principal marketing method was salespersonnel making outbound, unsolicited telephone calls to individuals who had some existing customer relationship with Financial. Under Financial’s underwriting process, the salespersonnel were responsible for obtaining income-related documents (such as pay stubs and W-2 forms) and forwarding them to Financial’s centralized underwriting centers. Financial typically did not require that borrowers fill out and sign loan applications that included the borrower’s representation of his or her income. Continue reading “Wells Fargo Fined $85,000,000.00 for Falsifying Information on Loan Applications”