Tag Archives: Bank of America

The New York state court system has instituted a new filing requirement that officials say will prevent wrongful foreclosures and protect the integrity of the process. Lenders' counsel are now required to file an affirmation certifying that they have reviewed and verified the accuracy of foreclosure documents. The new mandate is in response to recent disclosures by major mortgage lenders of potential deficiencies in notarization and so-called ""robosigning"" of supporting paperwork.

GMAC Mortgage was the first company to halt foreclosures in 23 states because of concerns that the legal paperwork was not validated and processed correctly. After two months of reviewing individual case files, the company says it will restart foreclosure proceedings. Bank of America has also lifted its foreclosure suspension in 23 states. While both companies say they have found no instances in which a homeowner was wrongly foreclosed upon, at least one county sheriff in the judicial state of Illinois says he's not going to carry out their evictions until they provide further proof.

Bank of America said Tuesday that it lost $7.3 billion during the three-month period ending in September. The company attributed the deficit to new financial reform regulations related to credit and debit card payments. On the mortgage side of its business, though, the company is seeing improvements. Mortgage banking income jumped 95 percent last quarter, the ratio of nonperforming loans and assets declined, and no sizeable losses are expected from the company's foreclosure suspension and affidavit problems.

Bank of America and Fidelity National Financial have come to an agreement regarding the foreclosure paperwork issues that have plagued several of the largest lenders in the past weeks. Fidelity will continue to provide title insurance for BofA's foreclosed properties and defend new homeowners in court if title issues arise. The bank has agreed to cover all court related costs and settlements resulting from lawsuits surrounding title issues. The news comes just as Bank of America has announced that it will resume foreclosures in 23 judicial states beginning October 25th.

During the third quarter, 49 mortgage-related companies went under or closed down part of their operations, according to industry data released Tuesday. Organizational shake-ups were felt at even the nation's largest lenders. One top-four bank put the brakes on its subprime lending business, while the country's No. 1 lender abandoned mortgage broker originations. As of the end of September, industry casualties for the year tallied 158. However, overall mortgage-related failures this year are on track to subside from 2009.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is holding meetings with the nation's four largest lenders to address growing concerns about their processes for short sales and selling REO homes. The trade group's leadership team has already met with representatives from Bank of America and Wells Fargo to discuss, as NAR put it, ""the problems Realtors face every day when working to get deals to the closing table."" Meetings are scheduled later this year with Chase Home Mortgage and CitiMortgage.

Evidence of major servicers mishandling foreclosure paperwork has cast a cloud of doubt over the entire industry and servicing procedures across the board. Consumer advocacy groups and a number of state attorneys general have demanded a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures. But two senior White House officials have indicated that the Obama administration will not support an all-out foreclosure freeze. So far, five companies have announced voluntary foreclosure suspensions because of potential deficiencies in the legal paperwork.

Litton Loan Servicing LP, the Houston-based mortgage servicing unit of Goldman Sachs has joined the ranks of mortgage firms issuing a voluntarily foreclosure moratorium. The company has declined to release details of which states the suspension encompasses or how many loans it might affect.

PNC Financial Services Group is the fourth large lender to suspend foreclosures within the past three weeks because of potential deficiencies in the legal paperwork. The bank has reportedly notified its industry partners that it is holding up sales of foreclosed homes in judicial states for 30 days while the company reviews its internal servicing procedures.

Bank of America is expanding its foreclosure freeze from the 23 judicial states to include all 50 states. Consumer advocacy groups, state attorneys general, and federal lawmakers are all calling for GMAC Mortgage and JPMorgan Chase to also extend their foreclosure moratoriums nationwide. PNC Financial has reportedly become the fourth major lender to institute a foreclosure suspension in the judicial states. An announcement is expected to come as early as Tuesday of a joint investigation by attorney general offices in as many as 40 states.