More details are emerging about the replacement of the Independent Foreclosure Review, and we will continue to update as more information is released from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller Currency.    We suspect that it will be several weeks before actual program details emerge, and there have been suggestions that payments to homeowners would not start until March 2013 at the earliest.  Homeowners should keep their eye on the Independent Foreclosure Review website and we suspect that more information will be posted by the end of January 2013.

1. How much is the new settlement?   $3.3 billion will be distributed in direct payments to eligible borrowers, while an additional $5.2 billion in relief will be granted through loan modifications and forgiveness of deficiency judgments.

2. How will compensation be determined?  Huffington Post (Foreclosure Review In New Settlement Leaves Homeowners In Banks’ Hands January 7, 2013) reports that banks and servicers will now look at the 4.4 million homeowners who were foreclosed on from 2009-2010 and:

broadly classify them into 11 “buckets” corresponding to the level of fraud during the foreclosure process. Borrowers with foreclosed loans that fall into the highest-priority bucket, such as foreclosures illegally conducted on U.S. troops while they were fighting overseas, will qualify for a payout of as much as $125,000. Those in the lowest-level group, such as loans with a clerical error, will qualify for at least $250.

3. What banks are included?  According to the Federal Reserve press release, participating in this new agreement “would meet the requirements of the enforcement actions that mandated that the servicers retain independent consultants to conduct an Independent Foreclosure Review.”  (In other words, this is replacing the Independent Foreclosure Review for these banks and servicers)

Aurora Loan Servicing

Bank of America

Citibank

HSBC (added January 18th)

JPMorgan Chase

MetLife Bank

PNC

Sovereign

SunTrust,

U.S. Bank

Wells Fargo

4. What banks are not included? According to the HuffingtonPost article cited earlier, these banks are not included and reviews will continue for homeowners whose loans were serviced by these companies:

Ally Financial,

EverBank,

OneWest Bank (formerly IndyMac bank)

The Federal Reserve press release states: “The agencies continue to work to reach similar agreements in principle with other servicers that are not parties to the agreement announced today, but that are also subject to enforcement actions for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.”

5. What about Litton and Saxon customers?   Jan. 16th, 2013 Update: Litton and Saxon have both agreed to conduct a process similar to the 10 banks/servicers mentioned earlier in this post, you can see a press release about their settlements here: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have reached agreements in principle with the Federal Reserve Board to pay $557 million in cash payments and other assistance to help mortgage borrowers.

If you are a homeowner living in San Jose or Sunnyvale and are struggling with your mortgage, please contact ForeclosureHelpSCC, a program funded by the City of San Jose and the City of Sunnyvale at (408)-293-6000 or visit our website: www.foreclosurehelpscc.org.   Our HUD-approved counselors can help you evaluate your options, learn more about federal and state programs that may help you with your mortgage issues, and will help you create a plan forward.

Please note: All content included in the ForeclosureHelpSCC blog is provided for information only and should NOT be considered legal or tax advice. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on our hotline: (408)-293-6000, or visit our website: www.foreclosurehelpscc.org or send us an email: help@foreclosurehelpscc.org.

Si usted es dueño de una casa en San José o en Sunnyvale y están luchando con su hipoteca, por favor póngase en contacto con ForeclosureHelpSCC, un programa financiado por la ciudad de San José y la ciudad de Sunnyvale, al (408) -293- 6000, o visite nuestro sitio: www.foreclosurehelpscc.org. Nuestros consejeros aprobados por HUD puede ayudarle a evaluar sus opciones, aprender más acerca de los programas federales y estatales que pueden ayudarle con sus problemas de hipoteca, y le ayudará a crear un plan para seguir.

Por favor, tenga en cuenta: Todos los contenidos incluidos en el blog ForeclosureHelpSCC se proporciona únicamente a título informativo y no debe ser considerada como consejo legal o fiscal. Si usted tiene alguna pregunta, por favor no dude en contactarnos a nuestra línea directa: (408) -293-6000, o visite nuestro sitio:www.foreclosurehelpscc.org o envíenos un correo electrónico: help@foreclosurehelpscc.org.