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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown...
Addressing
Wrongful Foreclosures
If you’re
one of the thousands of Ohio families who has experienced the pain of
losing
your home to a wrongful foreclosure, help could finally be on the way.
But you
must act quickly.
Before the
reports of widespread foreclosure fraud two years ago, Ohio had 14
consecutive
years of increased foreclosures.
Then, we
discovered that many of the biggest banks in the country simply didn’t
follow
the law and give people the chance they deserved to keep their homes.
We found
that servicers used poorly maintained, lost, or even forged
documentation to
evict homeowners.
Big banks
tell us that these mistakes are isolated and harmless. But these
problems are
not new.
Too many
Ohioans were unjustifiably foreclosed on in recent years. That’s why it
is
important that the more than 140,000 Ohioans whose homes were
foreclosed on in
2009 and 2010 know about the free Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR)
process.
The IFR
process – enforced by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and
the
Federal Reserve – awards financial assistance to borrowers who were
foreclosed
on because of inaccuracies and oversights.
According
to the Independent Foreclosure Review website, borrowers are eligible
for
independent foreclosure review if: (1) the property securing the loan
was the
borrower’s primary residence; (2) the mortgage was in the foreclosure
process
at any time between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010; and (3) the
mortgage
was serviced by one of 27 IFR approved servicers. These servicers
include:
America’s Servicing Co.; Aurora Loan Services; BAC Home Loans
Servicing; Bank
of America; Beneficial; Chase; Citibank; CitiFinancial; CitiMortgage;
Countrywide; EMC; EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company; Financial
Freedom; GMAC
Mortgage; HFC; HSBC; IndyMac Mortgage Services; MetLife Bank; National
City
Mortgage; PNC Mortgage; Sovereign Bank; SunTrust Mortgage; U.S. Bank;
Wachovia
Mortgage; Washington Mutual (WaMu); Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; and
Wilshire Credit
Corporation.
And while
it’s estimated that 147,000 Ohioans are eligible, as of now, only 6,000
have
requested IFR reviews.
The good
news is that it’s not too late. With the application deadline extended
to
September 30, 2012, it is important to spread the word to Ohio
homeowners that
they may be eligible to receive compensation or other support.
For the
families who were foreclosed on – even when they were abiding by the
terms of
their mortgage or their modification agreement, even after they
requested
assistance and submitted all the required documentation on time, or
even though
they were protected by bankruptcy – IFR can help.
The
Independent Foreclosure Review process may provide compensation in the
form of
a lump sum payment, a loan modification, a suspended foreclosure, or
even a
corrected credit report.
While IFR
is a good option for many homeowners, it’s not a perfect process and
I’m
working to fix some serious flaws in it. That’s why I sent a letter to
the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting that homeowners
have
access to an appeal process that ensures Ohioans can receive the
assistance
they deserve.
And though
not everyone will receive compensation, going through the IFR process
is free
of charge and won’t prevent Ohioans from pursuing other options related
to
foreclosure assistance.
If homeowners
don’t take advantage of this opportunity and participate in this
program, then
the banks will avoid making payments for their wrongdoing. Our economy
will
never fully recover until we stabilize the housing market – and that
means
restoring trust for both homeowners and investors.
But it’s up
to all of us to take action. By raising awareness of the services the
Independent Foreclosure Review process provides, we can help Ohio
homeowners
receive the compensation they deserve.
To find out
more about the Independent Foreclosure Review process, Ohioans can call
1-888-9105 or visit the website
https://independentforeclosurereview.com/.
Sincerely,
Sherrod
Brown
U.S.
Senator
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