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National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Identifies Few Servicing Violations
On June 19, the National Mortgage Settlement Monitor, Joseph A. Smith, Jr., released summaries of the mortgage servicing compliance reports he submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer — the judge presiding over the consent judgments that constitute the National Mortgage Settlement. The summaries indicate that the five servicers subject to the national agreement were largely compliant with the agreement’s mortgage servicing requirements and currently are taking actions to address certain potential violations. Still, the Monitor stated that consumer and state attorney general complaints indicated that some issues may remain with regard to the loan modification process, single points of contact, and billing and statement inaccuracies, and that he is negotiating more stringent testing with the banks to address these issues.
Housing Advocacy Groups Press For National Mortgage Settlement Fair Servicing Data
On May 23, a group of 17 housing and advocacy organizations sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer – the judge presiding over the consent judgments that constitute the National Mortgage Settlement – questioning whether the homeowner relief activities of the mortgage servicers subject to that settlement are being conducted fairly with regard to borrowers in minority communities. The group urged Judge Collyer to require full public disclosure of the distribution of principal reduction and other loan modification benefits. In particular, the organizations are concerned that servicers may not be complying with state and federal fair housing laws in their distribution of loan modifications. The organizations ask that the servicers be required to report census tract and other data for each mortgage adjustment for which they seek credit under the settlement. In March, the group and other organizations sent a similar, more detailed request to National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Joseph Smith, pressing him to monitor and audit the fair lending compliance of the servicers involved in the settlement. To date, the Monitor has not publicly done so.
National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Updates Consumer Relief Status
On May 21, the National Mortgage Settlement Monitor, Joseph Smith, released updated consumer relief activities data submitted by the mortgage servicers subject to the Settlement. The update reflects relief activities during the period March 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013, and includes a breakout of data for the first quarter of 2013. A fact sheet highlights numerous aspects of the data, including that 621,712 borrowers have benefited from some type of consumer relief totaling $50.63 billion, which, on average, represents about $81,437 per borrower. The Monitor did not issue a full report on the data because he is focused on testing the 2012 year-end consumer relief claims of four banks. The Monitor expects to release the results of the testing in the coming weeks. In June, he also plans to submit the first required report regarding the banks' compliance with the Settlement’s servicing standards.
New York AG Plans Suit Over Alleged Violations of National Servicer Settlement
On May 6, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his intent to sue two of the five mortgage servicers that entered the National Mortgage Settlement with 49 state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Justice, and certain federal agencies, alleging numerous violations of the servicing standards established by that agreement. Based on complaints received from borrowers, Mr. Schneiderman alleged that the two companies violated agreed-to loan modification timeline requirements established in the National Mortgage Settlement, including failure to provide acknowledgment of receipt of documentation from a borrower, failure to notify the borrower of missing documentation, and failure to provide a decision on the modification request within 30 days of receiving a complete application. Procedurally, under the National Mortgage Settlement, an individual party such as the New York Attorney General must provide notice of intent to bring an enforcement action for noncompliance to the Monitoring Committee, which has 21 days to determine whether to pursue action on behalf of all the parties to the National Mortgage Settlement. At the conclusion of the 21-day waiting period, if the Monitoring Committee decides not to move forward, the New York Attorney General, and other individual attorneys general, may separately pursue the action.
DOJ Announces Payments Under 2011 SCRA Settlements
On April 4, the DOJ announced that two mortgage servicers will pay a combined $39 million to 316 servicemembers pursuant to SCRA settlements from 2011. Those settlement agreements resolved allegations that the mortgage servicers unlawfully foreclosed upon servicemembers between 2006 and 2010. One of the servicers also is subject to the national mortgage servicing settlement, which required an audit to identify violations of SCRA’s foreclosure provisions between January 1, 2006 and April 4, 2012 and its 6 percent interest rate cap provision between January 1, 2008 and April 4, 2012. DOJ stated that the payment is separate from the national servicing settlement review and represents only the non-judicial foreclosures conducted by the bank during the relevant time period. As the national settlement audits progress, the DOJ will require the servicer to make additional payments for alleged judicial foreclosure and interest rate violations uncovered in the audit.
Housing Counselor Survey Alleges Banks Fail to Comply with National Mortgage Settlement.
On April 3, a California borrower advocacy organization published the results of its survey of housing counselors, which the organization claims reveals that problems persist with the implementation of the national servicing settlement’s servicing standards, including with regard to single points of contact, dual tracking, timelines, and documentation. The report also claims that borrowers of color and other groups face additional challenges to obtaining relief under the settlement. The report recommends that (i) the National Mortgage Settlement Monitor and state attorneys general collect, analyze and report the race, ethnicity, gender, and census tract of those who have received assistance and those who have not; (ii) the OCC and the Federal Reserve Board collect, analyze and make public the same data beyond the national settlement, and include all loss mitigation activity; (iii) the CFPB promptly issue a rule to establish new HMDA categories; (iv) the Monitor impose penalties on outliers; (v) the Monitor, the CFPB, and state AGs tighten rules around “complete loan mod app”, servicing transfers, and widows; (vi) regulators prioritize in the revamped Independent Foreclosure Review process principal reduction relief, keeping people in their homes, and restoring wrongful foreclosure victims to their homes by forcing servicers to go back through their files, rescind improper foreclosure sales, and fix mistakes; (vii) authorities provide more financial support for housing counseling and legal services; and (viii) regulators ensure that servicers have sufficient capacity and training to work with homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Issues Implementation Report
On February 21, Joseph Smith, Jr., the Monitor charged with overseeing the borrower relief and servicing standards aspects of the national mortgage servicing settlement, issued an implementation status report. The report states that the servicers subject to the agreement have provided nearly $46 billion of borrower relief to date and that one of the five servicers has been certified as having satisfied its borrower relief obligations under the settlement. The report notes that, effective January 1, 2013, each of the five servicers’ compliance with the servicing standards are being measured against a set of 29 metrics. The report does not provide any initial assessment of servicer compliance, but notes that the Monitor is currently reviewing each servicer’s compliance review report and, after completing a consultation process with each servicer and the Monitoring Committee, the Monitor will file a compliance report during the second quarter of 2013. The report also notes an increase in consumer complaints collected by the Monitor to date, but does not conclude whether the increase is due to greater awareness about the settlement or persistent servicing problems.