June 4, 2013
Mortgage Servicing Abuse Payments Total $53.8 Million for Nevada
Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today that approximately 36,763 borrowers who submitted a valid foreclosure payment claim through the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) will receive a check this month for approximately $1,480.
“The National
Mortgage Settlement negotiated and set aside these checks from a $1.5 billion
national payment pool,” said Masto. “Although these payments will by no
means fully compensate a homeowner for the loss of their home, they will help
to provide some relief to Nevada homeowners for the mortgage servicing abuse
they likely endured. It is important to remember these payments do not
have to be the end. Borrowers may still seek relief through a separate
lawsuit or other claims.”
Eligible
borrowers had their mortgage serviced by one of the settlement’s five
participating mortgage servicers, lost their home to foreclosure between
January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011, and submitted a valid claim form.
The participating servicers include Ally (formerly GMAC), Bank of America,
Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo.
Nationally, the settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, will mail 962,278 valid claim payments from June 10 through June 17.
“The payments
from the National Mortgage Settlement are part of our ongoing effort to hold
banks accountable,” Masto said. “In addition to compensating borrowers
for the servicing abuse that happened in the past, the settlement’s tough new
mortgage servicing standards were implemented to prevent these practices from
occurring. As a member of the monitoring committee of the National Mortgage
Settlement, we will fight to ensure banks fully comply with the servicing
standards under the settlement. My office will continue to hold banks
accountable.”
In February
2012, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government announced the
historic joint state-federal NMS with the country’s five largest mortgage
servicers. Preliminary
data shows that, so far, the servicers have provided more than $50 billion
in direct settlement relief to borrowers nationwide, which includes $1.8
billion in Nevada.
A relatively
small number of borrowers will not receive a check in the initial mailing or
will receive a split payment.
- Some
borrowers will receive a check for less than the approximate $1,480
payment, these include situations where borrowers are divorced or
separated and no longer live at the same address. The full per-loan
amount will be paid on these loans, but the payment will be evenly split
between the borrowers.
- A small
number of borrowers who submitted a claim form but do not have a valid
Social Security number on file will be delayed in receiving their payments
while tax-related issues are addressed.
- Two
servicers recently provided information on an additional 31,000 borrowers,
and thus they could not be included in this distribution. Later this
summer, these consumers will receive a notice and will have the
opportunity to submit a payment application.
Every
borrower who filed a claim will receive a letter regarding their outcome.
Borrowers with questions about their NMS payment should call the settlement
administrator Rust Consulting at 1-866-430-8358.
Nevada NMS
Quick Facts:
- Approximate
number of checks to be sent: 36,763
- Dollar amount
of checks to be sent: $53,876,823
National
Mortgage Settlement and Independent Foreclosure Review Payments are Separate:
Rust
Consulting is also the settlement administrator for the Independent Foreclosure
Review (IFR) payment agreement through the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board. The IFR settlement is
unrelated and separate from the National Mortgage Settlement and does not
include the same governmental agencies. The IFR payments began in mid-April
of 2013, and the OCC announced that final payments will be mailed in
mid-July. For more information on the OCC IFR settlement, go to www.OCC.gov and click on Independent Foreclosure
Review.
Submit a
Complaint:
Nevadans who
believe they are a victim of mortgage fraud are asked to submit a written
complaint to the Nevada Attorney General’s Office Mortgage Fraud Unit.
The Mortgage Fraud Complaint Form can be found on the AG’s website.
Make Home
Ownership a Reality with Home Again Nevada:
Nevada
homeowners can also seek assistance through the Attorney General sponsored Home
Again, Nevada Homeowner Relief Program that makes it easier to determine
what state or federal assistance may be available to them. For more information
contact 1-855-HLP4NEV (1-855-457-4638) or visit the website: www.homeagainnevada.gov. Home
Again is open to all Nevadans, but is designed specifically to help those
working toward homeownership, individuals seeking to restore their credit, and
homeowners interested in identifying what state and federal assistance may be
available to them.
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