Cummings Encourages Homeowners to Report Mortgage Servicer Abuses

Washington, DC – Representative Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today alerted homeowners who have been the victims of illegal or improper foreclosure related actions to a new online claims process announced today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

"I encourage any homeowners who believe they have been victims of abuse or illegal practices to request full reviews of their cases through this process," said Cummings. "Mortgage servicing companies have been given a pass for far too long, and it's time they are finally held accountable. The independent review process enables individual homeowners to seek redress, but we must continue to fully investigate the massive scope of these abuses."

Under the new process announced by OCC, homeowners who believe they were the victim of errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies in foreclosure proceedings related to their primary residence between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 can request a review of the foreclosure. Borrowers can visit www.IndependentForeclosureReview.com for more information about the review and claim process.

This review process was required under enforcement actions taken by OCC in April. On April 13, 2011, OCC, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of Thrift Supervision issued a report finding "critical weaknesses" and "widespread risk" with the foreclosure actions of 14 mortgage servicing companies, including foreclosures that violated federal law.

OCC also required mortgage servicing companies to submit "engagement letters" retaining private consultants to review their widespread foreclosure abuses. Cummings requested copies of these engagement letters in May and, based on legal constraints identified by OCC, requested that Committee Chairman Darrell Issa issue friendly subpoenas for these documents in October. That request remains pending with the Chairman.