Tag Archives: Attorney General

There has been no shortage of reports of state attorneys general seeking accountability from servicers that they allege mishandled foreclosures. Now it's being reported that attorneys general in all 50 states are near to reaching settlements with the nation's top five mortgage servicers, including Bank of America and GMAC Mortgage. The states are looking to develop separate agreements, rather than one encompassing settlement; and they plan to pursue a civil investigation rather than a criminal one.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller on Monday filed a petition asking the Indiana Supreme Court to impose new procedures for foreclosures filed in the state. Zoeller says with some mortgage lenders trying to foreclose on distressed homeowners by filing court documents that are unverified, unauthenticated, or riddled with errors, Indiana is not going to wait for the federal government to take action to ensure borrowers' rights are protected.

Wells Fargo has reached an agreement with California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., to provide loan modifications worth more than $2 billion to an estimated 14,900 California homeowners with pick-a-pay loans originated by World Savings and Wachovia, banks Wells Fargo acquired. Wells Fargo will also pay an additional $32 million to thousands of borrowers who lost their homes through foreclosure. The bank says the majority of Wachovia's Pick-a-Payment customers reside in California.

A second state has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America for alleged deceptive loan modification and foreclosure practices. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced that her office has also opened a lawsuit against the company and its affiliates regarding its residential mortgage servicing procedures. Bank of America says it is disappointed by the lawsuit and is currently engaged in multi-state discussions to improve foreclosure related processes and programs to help distressed homeowners.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America for alleged fraudulent acts committed after a March 2009 lawsuit. Last spring, BofA agreed to develop a modification program for customers in the state to resolve Goddard's allegations that Countrywide had engaged in fraud in originating and marketing mortgage loans. Since then, Goddard says BofA has violated the provisions by failing to make timely decisions on mod requests and proceeding with foreclosures when modifications were pending.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury added three members to its senior leadership lineup for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray will lead the enforcement team. In addition, Federal Reserve Director Leonard Chanin will oversee the rule writing team, and former AFL-CIO Director David Silberman will head the card markets division.

Americans continue to grapple with uncertainty about the housing market, with 58 percent of U.S. adults expecting recovery to be at least another two years away. Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac and Pete Flint of Trulia are of the same mind as consumers. They peg the housing recovery to begin taking shape between 2013 and 2014. The robo-signing debacle has left most consumers mired in distrust of banks and the government. The industry experts say its effect on REO sales will be minimal, but the impact on consumer confidence could be especially damaging.

Maine attorney general Janet T. Mills announced last week that negotiations with GMAC Mortgage LLC and Bank of America had resulted in a temporary halt in foreclosure sales in the state. The two lenders have agreed not to proceed to judgments on any pending matters in Maine until they have completed an internal review of their foreclosure procedures and discussed the procedures with the attorney general.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) has sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) requesting Acting Director Edward DeMarco to provide full details of how taxpayer dollars are being spent to pay for lawyer's fees and legal costs for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Neugebauer says he's concerned that the taxpayers are picking up the tab for ongoing legal counsel for the very executives who drove the GSEs into conservatorship. The congressman wants a report from FHFA no later than December 31.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) has released a statement responding to the accusation by Robert G. Marshall that the company violates a state law because it doesn't pay a fee when a loan changes hands. Marshall requested that Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli launch an investigation on the Reston, Virginia based MERS.