(Boston, MA) A newly proposed $8.5 Billion settlement that includes 10 of the largest lenders being initiated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Reserve does not appear to appear to be sufficient in compensating borrowers for the lender’s wrongful acts.
NACA submitted the largest number of files for Independent Foreclosure Review (“IFR”) with more than 65,000 direct filings and 10 million pages of supporting documents. That puts NACA in the best position to monitor the OCC settlement with the lenders to ensure that the most victimized homeowners get proper compensation for the lender’s illegal and wrongful foreclosures.
This agreement will stop the comprehensive review by independent consultants into the lenders’ modification process. The investigation is uncovering large numbers of borrowers who were foreclosed upon when a modification was available. The agreement is not sufficient in providing compensation for the homeowners who should not have been foreclosed upon. In addition, the $5.2 Billion in other assistance will do little in assisting homeowners to stay in their homes since it is not dedicated to principal reduction.
NACA’s founder and CEO Bruce Marks is concerned that this agreement prevents the further investigation and prosecution of the lenders with limited benefit for the homeowners. “I have firsthand knowledge of the power of regulators since I was once a regulator at the Federal Reserve Bank”, states Bruce Marks. “The independent consultants were identifying significant violations and abuse by the lenders. By immediately stopping their investigation, this prevents hundreds of thousands of homeowners from receiving compensation.” continues Bruce Marks. “As important, it would prevent the last best chance to definitively determine the cause of the mortgage crisis in order to hold those responsible accountable and not to repeat it in the future.”
About NACA (NACA.com)
NACA is the largest HUD certified counseling agency. It provides about 30% of the counseling in the country. It has more than 2 million members. NACA provides free housing assistance to those at risk of foreclosure by restructuring mortgages to an affordable payment and by originating low interest home loans to mainly first time home buyers. NACA has been highlighted in the national news and its CEO Bruce Marks was named Bostonian of the Year for 2007 because of his work in getting the major lenders and servicers to modify home loans for borrowers who come through NACA. See Bostonian of the Year. He has also testified in congress on numerous occasions including on September 12, 2000, being one of the only people to sound the alarm of the pending mortgage crisis. For more information go to www.naca.com