(Read the first few lines to the tune of Harry Chapin’s song, Cats in the Cradle.)
A client called me just the other day, she received a letter in the most usual way. However, this one was surprising to her. It was a letter about the Independent Foreclosure Review process.
As you may recall, the Independent Foreclosure Review is part of the settlement associated with the robo-signing debacle of 2010 (title my own). As part of this review, fourteen mortgage servicers and their affiliates are identifying customers who were part of a foreclosure action on their primary residence during the period of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010.
These 14 mortgage servicers have now begun to send out letters to 4.3 million potential victims of robo-signing and other foreclosure-related (and potentially fraudulent) matters. These letters will provide homeowners the opportunity to request an independent review of their foreclosure process (a.k.a. Independent Foreclosure Review). If the review finds that financial injury occurred as a result of errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies in the servicer’s foreclosure process, the customer may receive compensation or another remedy.
Here is a copy of the letter that potential victims may receive. Not everyone who receives the letter is eligible. In the case of the client who contacted our office, she successfully completed a short sale and did not believe that the terms of the review applied to her specific situation. Anyway, check out the letter—since it was sent to 4.3 million homes, you likely have a client who has received one.
Short Sale Expeditor
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Melissa, thanks so much for sharing the Independent Foreclosure review letter with us…i have not seen this as of yet. Great information to be on top of for those who have gone through short sales or foreclosure in our areas. I am looking forward to more follow up in blog posts from you on this one. One thing about the Short Sale Expeditor is that you get the latest & best information going on in the short sale field. Escondido CA is lucky to have you…
btw, you got me at the kitties….
Ginny Lacey Gorman
Phillips Post Road Realty
North Kingstown RI 02852
North Kingstown short sale agents
I am very confused with this letter:-/ The fact that they won’t give a strait answer is very shady. All of this legal jargon makes my head spin and scares me half to death. I have no idea what other type of shenanigan they will pull on me this time. I was in a modification process for 1 1/2 years. They took so long with the process my balance went from 3,000. To 18,000. PNC purchased National City in the middle of my modification process and then said my balance was too big and that I did not qualify for modification. Even though we supposedly had been approve by National City and been in the trial run for so long. I had to declare bankruptcy. When that happened they quickly called saying that they will work with us after I spent hours on the phone crying and begging asking for some sort of solution to keep my primary Residence. They said repeatedly “there is nothing we can do for you; the house will go into the foreclosure process”. My mother, my children, my brother and I were officially homeless. We had to sell 80% of our belongings because we could not take it with us. We also needed the money to pay for a place to live. It was horrible. I think it’s cruel of them to give us hope. They hired their own people to investigate! I don’t know how that even allowed! They could never repay the damage they did. If they compensated all 4 million+ people these banks basically raped, they would go bankrupt. There is no way they would do that so yes I believe nothing they say.
Scared Scared Scared….
Here’s the truth about the independent foreclosure review. You send in you docs to Rust Consulting. They inturn send it to the Bank, not the independent firm but the Bank. The Bank then has the option of pulling out what they want to be reviewed. I have also learned from an article on http://www.nakedcapitalism.com that a Temp was hired to review the files and not to dig so deep. I have also learned that ADDECCO in NJ is hiring people to work for BOA to review their files. They are paid by BOA and trained by them also. How how is this fair. There is on consultant on site to oversee this process. Now here it is the banks that have been doing their you know what to us for years is continuing to do so by this so called “INDEPENDENT FORECLOSURE REVIEW.’ Write your state officials and tell them about your concerns.
Thanks, Judy. There have been many articles in national news that allude to much of what you say here.
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