If you are a home loan borrower who has experienced financial harm as a result of improper handling of your mortgage by a servicer, you may qualify for an independent foreclosure review. For example, if you were denied a loan modification in error, you may benefit from this formal process.
Fourteen servicers are reviewing loans as part of a mandatory consent order passed down last year. Consultants have begun reviewing approximately a quarter-million mortgages and have stated they may increase that number if their findings indicate they should do so.
Government Looking for Victims
John Walsh, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), states several tracking methods are being used to find displaced homeowners. For example, in the last two months of 2011, over 4 million letters were sent out to homeowners who were eligible for the review. The letters also informed them of how to start the process.
Many of the letters were returned because several victims of improper loan handlings by servicers have been displaced. Currently, print and internet advertising campaigns are underway to find eligible homeowners. The campaigns are running in both Spanish and English.
Grievances Expressed by Homeowners include Mortgage Mod Issues
Of the 121,000 borrowers who requested to have their files formally reviewed, complaints ran the gamut. For example, some homeowners complained of incorrect loan balances, improper processing of their mortgage payments, loan modification errors, issues with the types of fees charged, etc.
Monetary Settlement
As a homeowner, you could receive a monetary settlement if the review is resolved in your favor. For example, if your loan modification was handled improperly, or some other improper handling is discovered as a result of the review, you could be entitled to compensation. Settlements can include lost equity reimbursement, repayment of expenses encountered by homeowners as a result of a servicer’s wrongdoing (plus interest), and even foreclosure repealing.
John Walsh stated, “There are no caps or limits to the amount of compensation … .”
How to Find Out if You are an Eligible Homeowner for Program
For more information and to find out if you are an eligible candidate for the independent foreclosure review process, visit https://independentforeclosurereview.com/default.aspx.
Do You Have Questions?
If you have questions as you are exploring the formal review process, take a look at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm. Use it as a resource for further assistance. On this HUD website, you can search the list of Approved Housing Counseling Agencies for an organization in or near your city.
Simply call the office serving your community and ask for help if you have questions. The OCC has encouraged homeowner counselors to make sure homeowners with whom they work are fully aware of the independent foreclosure review process.