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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman plans to sue Wells Fargo (WFC) for violating the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement and has reached an agreement with Bank of America (BAC) to comply with several new mortgage servicing standards.
October 2 -
The big five servicers technically passed the first test of their compliance with the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, but four of them failed to meet at least one requirement and the settlement's monitor received nearly 60,000 complaints.
June 19
The monitor of the national mortgage settlement plans to force the five largest servicers to fix billing and communications problems that have plagued homeowners and been the subject of tens of thousands of complaints.
Joseph Smith, the monitor of the settlement, issued
The tests will require the servicers to provide homeowners with a single point of contact at the company, and to put in place systems to monitor single-point-of-contact communications. The servicers will also be required to ensure that their monthly billing statements are accurate and comprehensive, that they do not reject a borrower's loan-modification request while the borrower is responding to requests for additional documents, and that they properly communicate to borrowers when a loan-modification request has been turned down.
The monitor has set new testing metrics that each of the five banks will have to meet. The testing will begin next year.
"I have met with attorneys general, counselors, other advocates, and distressed borrowers in 10 states over the past year," said Smith in a news release. "Time and time again, I have heard their ongoing frustrations with the loan modification process, single points of contact and billing and account statement issues."
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who is on the settlement's monitoring committee, said in a news release that the rules are intended to "help homeowners and hold banks accountable" for "not providing timely and effective assistance."
States have increased their pressure on servicers to comply with the 2012 accord, in response to complaints from homeowners. On Wednesday,
The Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight received