Tag Archives: JPMorgan Chase

Servicer reaction varied following Treasury's announcement that it will not pay incentives to three program participants until officials see improvements in the way they handle borrowers under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Bank of America ""acknowledged improvements must be made,"" while Wells Fargo said it is ""formally disputing"" Treasury's assessment. Treasury insists its goal is to improve behavior, but some say the move could induce at least one of the larger banks to withdraw from the program.

The U.S. Treasury has released its regular monthly report card on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). New this time is an assessment of how the 10 largest HAMP servicers are performing. Four servicers have been designated as needing ""substantial"" improvement: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Ocwen Loan Servicing, and Wells Fargo. Treasury says it will withhold financial incentives from three of these companies until they make identified improvements.

Chase, the consumer banking and home lending business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., opened a new Homeownership Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday. The facility provides Chase borrowers who are struggling to make their mortgage payments with resources to help them avoid foreclosure. Trained advisors are on hand to help distressed homeowners evaluate their finances, review possible workout options, and answer any questions.

In a joint announcement from JPMorgan Chase and U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jonathon Rowles, the financial services firm revealed it will provide $27 million in benefits to its military customers. The funds are part of a settlement to a class action lawsuit over financial protections due to military customers under the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA). JP Morgan admitted to violating the SCRA after the company wrongfully foreclosed on military families and overcharged thousands.

JPMorgan Chase reported Wednesday that the company made $5.6 billion during the first quarter of 2011, beating market expectations. But the lender's mortgage business took a significant hit, as related revenue fell 75 percent and costs tied to its servicing and foreclosure operations mounted. The company says ""extraordinarily high losses"" from mortgage-related issues will continue ""for a while,"" but the lender assured investors that it is addressing mistakes from the past.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision announced formal enforcement actions Wednesday against 14 mortgage servicers and two firms that provide foreclosure-related services to the industry - LPS and MERS. The consent orders are the result of regulators' investigations into robo-signing allegations and represent a settlement with the firms involved, at least in part. Both the OCC and Fed say they believe monetary sanctions in these cases are also warranted, and they plan to pursue such actions separately.

Due to a drop in hirings, mortgage sector jobs lost traction last year, going from a net gain in 2009 to a net loss in 2010, according to an industry report released this week. Layoffs in real estate finance outnumbered hirings by 3,100 jobs last year. In 2009, hirings exceeded layoffs by more than 8,000. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show employment in the mortgage sector has fallen more than 50 percent over the last five years.

New York City Comptroller John Liu has announced a victory for the members of the New York City Pension Funds who have long been calling for banks to conduct an independent audit of their mortgage foreclosure practices. The NYC Pension Funds requested an audit of the banks' practices in November and again in January to no avail, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that the banks must put the group's request on the ballot at their annual shareholder meetings this spring.

Another lawsuit centered around mortgage securities backed by faulty loans may be brewing. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has threatened to sue four banks and investment firms unless they refund more than $50 billion for mortgage-related bonds that went bad. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch unit, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan Chase are named as the targets of NCUA's legal threats. The regulator says mortgage securities sold by these companies led to the collapse of five wholesale credit unions.

The FDIC filed a lawsuit last week against three former Washington Mutual (WaMu) executives and two of their wives, alleging that they ran the bank into the ground in order to fatten their own wallets. The lawsuit says former WaMu CEO Kerry Killinger, former COO Stephen Rotella, and home loans president David Schneider focused on short-term gains to increase their own compensation, while encouraging risky mortgage lending when they knew the housing market was about to collapse.