OCC to Escheat Funds from Foreclosure Review; Agency Terminates Three Consent Orders and Issues Six Amended Orders

Foreclosure OCC Enforcement

On June 17, the OCC announced that, at year-end 2015, it will escheat any remaining uncashed payments made pursuant to the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement. Despite the IFR Payment Agreement having already resulted in the distribution of over $2.7 billion to more than 3.2 million eligible borrowers, the OCC anticipates that roughly $280 million from OCC-supervised institutions will remain unclaimed by the end of 2015. By escheating the remaining available funds, eligible borrowers and their heirs will have the opportunity to claim the funds. The agency also announced that it terminated foreclosure-related consent orders against three financial institutions because they have complied with the April 2011 orders and the February 2013 amendments to the orders. In addition, the OCC issued amended consent orders to six banks that did not meet all of the requirements of the consent orders by placing restrictions on the following business activities: (i) acquisition of residential mortgage servicing or residential mortgage servicing rights; (ii) new contracts to perform residential mortgage servicing for other parties; (iii) outsourcing or sub-servicing of new residential mortgage servicing activities to other parties; (iv) off-shoring new residential mortgage servicing activities; and (v) new appointments of senior officers in charge of residential mortgage servicing or residential mortgage servicing risk management and compliance. The limitations placed on the financial institutions were based on each bank’s particular circumstances.