Tag Archives: JPMorgan Chase

Less than half of the states' $2.5 billion from the national mortgage servicing settlement is being used for housing initiatives as intended, according to Enterprise Community Partners. It's been six months since a federal judge approved the agreement between the nation's five largest mortgage servicers and state and federal officials, and Enterprise says to date, states have announced housing- and foreclosure-related plans for $966 million of their settlement share; $988 million has been diverted to states' general funds or non-housing uses; and $588 million has yet to be allocated.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has issued the first borrower payments resulting from settlements with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure processing. Oklahoma families who were subject to the servicers' ""unfair and deceptive practices ... following the financial crisis,"" can expect to receive their checks soon, Pruitt said. Oklahoma was the only state to craft its own agreement with Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC/Ally, and Wells Fargo.

Increased mortgage-related revenue pushed both Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase to record quarterly profits in 3Q 2012, the banks reported. JPMorgan posted a record net income of $5.7 billion, with net revenue at $24.9 billion. Wells Fargo reported record net income of $4.9 billion for the quarter, up approximately $800 million from 3Q 2011.

Mortgage applications saw increased activity in the last week of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. Mortgage application volume increased 16.6 percent in the week ending September 28, according to MBA's Mortgage Composite Index. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index increased 20 percent from a week before to its highest recorded level since April 2009.

The nation's five largest mortgage servicers had 180 days to implement the 320 servicing standards outlined in the settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice and 49 state attorneys general. The standards address such areas as borrower communication, single point of contact, training for loss mitigation staff, and document execution related to foreclosure actions. And as described by the attorneys general's own negotiating committee, to put all the required changes in place involved ""a massive undertaking.""

New York attorney general and co-chair of RMBS Working Group Eric T. Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank, JPMorgan Securities, LLC (formerly known as Bear Stearns & Co.), and EMC Mortgage LLC (formerly EMC Mortgage Corporation). Schneiderman's complaint alleges that Bear Stearns led investors to believe that the quality of loans in its mortgage-backed securities had been carefully evaluated and would be monitored. The complaint further alleges that as a result of Bear Stearns' and the other defendants' negligence, investors suffered cumulative losses of approximately $22.5 billion.

Rallying investors by end of day Friday, JPMorgan Chase posted strong earnings from the second-quarter, with Home Affordable Refinance Program modifications helping boost income for the laggardly mortgage servicing unit year-over-year. For mortgage production and servicing, the financial institution fielded $604 million in net income over the second quarter, a figure that trumps a net loss of $649 million from the past year. Mortgage production rose to $931 million in pretax income for the lender.

According to a report from NCLC, laws in many states allow local governments to sell property through a tax lien foreclosure process if the owner falls behind on property taxes. A tax lien may be started over nonpayment of a small delinquent tax bill and then sold at a tax lien sale for the back taxes owed on the property. If the homeowner fails to buy back the property, the purchaser may acquire the home for very little and then resell it for a huge profit.

Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen announced Friday that programs of benefits resulting from a $25 billion mortgage foreclosure servicing settlement are moving forward in the state. Out of Connecticut's $190 million share of the settlement funds, an estimated $119 million is going into loan modifications. The banks have also agreed to provide $36 million in refinancing to Connecticut borrowers whose homes are worth less than their mortgages. Furthermore, they agreed to provide cash payments of about $1,500 to an estimated 7,500 borrowers in the state who experienced loan servicing abuses and lost their homes to foreclosure between the start of 2008 and the end of 2011.

Parties to the landmark mortgage servicing settlement appointed one man to oversee $25 billion in compliance. In an interview with DS News, Joseph A. Smith, onetime banking commissioner for North Carolina and ex-nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, lays out the role he envisions playing as he monitors funds for homeowners, states, and the federal government. The settlement monitor speaks with an understated tone about his stewardship of the historic settlement, which 49 state attorneys general and federal officials completed in February.