Agencies Announce Reissuance of Checks Related to the Independent Foreclosure Review

Replacement checks are being mailed this week to borrowers eligible for payment under the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreements and who have not yet cashed or deposited their check, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Wednesday.  The checks are being sent by the paying agent, Rust Consulting, Inc., to replace uncashed checks that have now expired.

Agreements reached in January 2013 between federal bank regulatory agencies and 13 mortgage servicers provided $3.6 billion in cash payments to borrowers whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010. The mortgages were serviced by one of the following 13 companies, their affiliates, or subsidiaries:  Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.  The payments ranged from several hundred dollars to $125,000 plus lost equity.

Beginning in April 2013, payments were mailed to all of the nearly 4.2 million in-scope borrowers of these servicers.  As of January 2015, more than 3.4 million of these checks, totaling more than $3.1 billion, had been cashed or deposited.  This represents approximately 87 percent of the total amount of funds these servicers were required to pay.

Nearly 600,000 checks mailed to borrowers of these 13 servicers remain outstanding, and have now expired.  As part of the agencies’ ongoing efforts to reach these borrowers, the paying agent was directed to conduct additional searches of updated addresses.  The current mailing represents the third attempt directed by the agencies to provide checks to in-scope borrowers.  Borrowers who have already cashed or deposited their checks will not receive additional payment.  Borrowers must cash or deposit the replacement checks within 90 days of the issue date or the check will be void.

After January 2013, similar agreements were reached with federal bank regulatory agencies that provided cash payments to borrowers whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 and whose mortgages were serviced by GMAC Mortgage and EverBank.  As of year-end 2014, payments were mailed to all of the in-scope borrowers of these two servicers.  Replacement checks for borrowers of GMAC Mortgage who have not yet cashed or deposited their checks are expected to be mailed by Rust Consulting, Inc., by May 2015.

Borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by one of the 13 servicers that entered into agreements in January 2013 or by GMAC Mortgage should call Rust Consulting, Inc. with questions at 888-952-9105, Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST or Saturday between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST.  Borrowers who had a mortgage serviced by EverBank should contact the paying agent for that agreement, Epiq Systems, with questions at 877-819-9754.

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