By Justin L. Seekamp
A recent article from Reuters.com detailed the United States Department of Justice’s attempts to add additional banks to other major banks already part of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed deal regarding foreclosures. A copy of the article can be found here.
The article stated that the DOJ had contacted several major nationally chartered banks including, HSBC Holdings Plc PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., MetLife, Inc., SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bancorp, OneWest Bank, Sovereign Bank, and Aurora Bank. These banks were contacted by the DOJ to see if they would agree to enter into a deal similar to that nearly completed involving the country’s five-largest mortgage servicers/lenders, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup, Inc., and Ally Financial, Inc. (formerly GMAC), to resolve allegations of misconduct in foreclosure processing and other issues. That deal involved the exchange of $20 to $25 billion dollars in relief to distressed homeowners in exchange for the DOJ and other State government agencies from not filing lawsuits regarding improper foreclosures and abuse coming from originating and servicing the loans. A publisher from Inside Mortgage Finance, Mr. Guy Cecala, stated that the addition of these other banks might increase the total settlement an additional $5 billion dollars but that including these banks would give potential aid to a larger amount of borrowers. Mr. Cecala was quoted as saying, “Clearly, it was not just five lenders committing ‘robo-signing.’ It was a wide spread practice.” Details on a finalized deal still need to be worked out, as the talks for settlement have been going on for more than a year, at this point, with the DOJ. This is after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve entered into consent orders with many of these same lenders/servicers earlier last year.
Clearly, the banks and servicers are, in many ways, seeing that they are in part responsible for the foreclosure mess but, whether this deal ultimately is beneficial for those homeowners who already suffered the loss of their home or who are dealing with the foreclosure process currently is something that foreclosure defense attorneys may never clearly be able to answer. But, as always, should you be served with foreclosure paperwork and are looking for someone to fight for your rights as a borrower, then seeking representation from a qualified and experienced Florida foreclosure attorney may be the best way to do so.
