2010 United States foreclosure crisis

United States housing crisis March 2019 March 2019 The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis, sometimes referred to as Foreclosure-gate or Foreclosuregate,Stephen Gandel https://business.time.com/2010/10/19/will-bankers-go-to-jail-for-foreclosure-gate/?xid=rss-topstories Will Bankers go to Jail for Foreclosure-gate? October 19, 2010 October 21, 2010 Timehttps://www.cnbc.com/2010/10/20/administration-shifts-focus-on-foreclosuregate.html CNBC Diana Olick Administration Shifts Focus on Foreclosure-Gate October 20, 2010 October 21, 2010 refers to a widespread epidemic of improper foreclosures initiated by large banks and other lenders. The foreclosure crisis was extensively covered by news outlets beginning in October 2010, and several large banks—including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup—responded by halting their foreclosure proceedings temporarily in some or all states.Segal David https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/business/18foreclosure.html White house urges calm on foreclosures The New York Times October 17, 2010 October 18, 2010LaCapra Lauren https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/foreclosure-crisis-home-equity-loan-time-bomb-10891455 Foreclosure crisis: home equity loan time bomb The Street October 18, 2010 October 18, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101022122344/http://www.thestreet.com/story/10891455/1/foreclosure-crisis-home-equity-loan-time-bomb.html?puc=_tscrss 22 October 2010 live The foreclosure crisis caused significant investor fear in the U.S.https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69B4UY20101014/ Investor fears grow over foreclosure mess October 14, 2010 October 18, 2010 Reuters A 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health linked the foreclosure crisis to an increase in suicide rates.Hunter Stuart 19 May 2014 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/foreclosure-suicides_n_5351219 Foreclosures Linked To Higher Suicide Rates: Study The Huffington Post 20 May 2014 http://www.jnhoule.org/storage/Houle_Light_AJPH_Final.pdf 24825209 26 May 2014 2014 Houle J. N. Light M. T. The home foreclosure crisis and rising suicide rates, 2005 to 2010 American Journal of Public Health 104 6 1073–1079 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301774 4062039 One out of every 248 households in the United States received a foreclosure notice in September 2012, according to RealtyTrac.http://www.bloombergbriefs.com/2012/10/11/california-now-leads-u-s-out-of-housing-bust/ California Now Leads U.S. Out of Housing Bust - Bloomberg Brief Bloombergbriefs.com 2013-01-15Levy Dan http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019526047_foreclosuresrealtytracxml.html N.Y. area leads rise in foreclosure filings Business & Technology The Seattle Times 2012-10-25 2013-01-15 Background and causes The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis was a direct outcome of the subprime mortgage crisis that began in 2007–2008. During the housing boom, lenders issued mortgages to a wide range of borrowers, including many with weaker credit profiles. A large share of these loans were subprime mortgages that carried higher interest rates and risky terms such as adjustable-rate structures. Many of these mortgages were bundled into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors, which encouraged continued risk-taking in origination. When housing prices began to fall after 2006, homeowners discovered that they had negative equity, meaning their mortgage balance exceeded the value of their homes.RealtyTrac. (2011). RealtyTrac year-end 2010 U.S. foreclosure sales report. Retrieved from https://mytowncryer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/realtytrac-year-end-2010-foreclosure-sales-data-final.pdf At the same time, unemployment rose after the Great Recession, and credit markets contracted, making it difficult for homeowners to refinance or avoid delinquency. These combined factors created a nationwide wave of defaults and foreclosures. Impact In 2010, foreclosure activity reached a record high. RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure-related sales made up nearly 26 percent of all U.S. home sales, and that these properties sold for roughly 28% less than comparable non-foreclosed homes. Nationally, about 1.2 million homes were repossessed that year, the highest annual total on record.CoreLogic. (2017). United States residential foreclosure crisis: Decade in review. Retrieved from https://www.alta.org/news-and-publications/news/20170330-CoreLogic-US-Residential-Foreclosure-Crisis-Decade-in-Review The crisis hit certain groups especially hard. Studies found that minority households and fast-growing housing markets suffered the heaviest losses.Gabriel, S. A., Iacoviello, M., & Lutz, C. (2021). A crisis of missed opportunities? Foreclosure costs and mortgage modification. UCLA Anderson Review. Retrieved from https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CAPreven_root.pdf This created a negative feedback loop: falling home prices reduced household wealth, which in turn weakened consumer spending and led to further layoffs in construction, retail, and banking. At the community level, areas with concentrated foreclosures saw vacancies rise, property-tax revenues decline, and— in some places—higher crime rates. Local governments faced shrinking budgets that limited support for schools and public services. Commentators sometimes described the hardest-hit areas as “ghost towns.” Policy responses In response, the federal government introduced programs to assist homeowners. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) sought to lower monthly mortgage payments to around 31 percent of income by altering loan terms.Cóndor, R., et al. (2021). Evaluating the effects of the Home Affordable Modification Program (Working Paper). Econstor. Retrieved from https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/240717/1/wp2021-08.pdf By the end of 2010, approximately 800,000 homeowners had received permanent modifications under HAMP.U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2010). Making Home Affordable Program performance report through December 2010. Retrieved from https://home.treasury.gov/data/making-home-affordable Another initiative, the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) enabled homeowners with underwater loans to refinance. Critics, including housing policy analysts and legal scholars, argued that these programs were too complicated and too limited in scale. Research on HAMP’s effectiveness has been mixed. Some scholars found that it reduced foreclosure rates, but others concluded that it reached only about one-third of the target population.Agarwal, S., Amromin, G., Ben-David, I., Chomsisengphet, S., & Evanoff, D. D. (2017). Policy intervention in debt renegotiation: Evidence from the Home Affordable Modification Program. Journal of Political Economy, 125(3), 654–712. https://doi.org/10.1086/691701 State-level foreclosure-prevention laws produced modest benefits but were not sufficient to reverse the national crisis. Housing market recovery (2011–2015) Beginning around 2012, the U.S. housing market slowly moved out of the foreclosure crisis. After several years of falling prices, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index showed that national home prices recorded their first yearly gain since 2006, with prices in major cities rising about 7 percent in 2012.US Home Prices Show First Yearly Gain Since 2006 https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/02/us-home-prices-show-first-yearly-gain-since-2006 ABC News 26 February 2013 1 December 2025 At the same time, banks and government-sponsored enterprises began to work through large inventories of foreclosed homes. Fannie Mae, for example, reported that its real-estate-owned (REO) inventory fell by 27 percent in 2011 after rising every year from 2006 to 2010.Fannie REO inventory declines 27% in 2011 https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fannie-reo-inventory-declines-27-2011/ HousingWire 1 March 2012 1 December 2025 Measures of foreclosure distress also improved. CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report estimated that the national foreclosure inventory in early 2015 was roughly one-third lower than a year earlier and back to levels last seen in 2008.CoreLogic Reports February 2015 Completed Foreclosures Down 67 Percent From 2010 Peak https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corelogic-reports-february-2015-completed-foreclosures-down-67-percent-from-2010-peak-300065083.html PR Newswire 14 April 2015 1 December 2025 During this recovery period, large institutional investors and other business buyers purchased many foreclosed single-family homes and converted them to rentals, providing liquidity to distressed markets and influencing local price dynamics.Business Investor Activity in the Single-Family-Housing Market https://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/notes/feds-notes/2013/business-investor-activity-in-the-single-family-housing-market-20131205.html Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 5 December 2013 1 December 2025 Despite these signs of recovery, homeownership remained subdued. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the national homeownership rate fell to about 63 percent in 2015, its lowest level in more than a decade, indicating that many households had not fully regained access to homeownership after the crisis.Homeownership in the United States: 2005 to 2019 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/homeownership.html United States Census Bureau 25 March 2021 1 December 2025 Robo-signing controversy "Robo-signing" is a term used by consumer advocates to describe the rubber-stamp process of mass production of false and forged execution of mortgage assignments, satisfactions, affidavits, and other legal documents related to mortgage foreclosures and legal matters being created by persons without knowledge of the facts being attested to. It also includes accusations of notary fraud wherein the notaries pre- and/or post-notarize the affidavits and signatures of so-called robo-signers. On October 21, 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that foreclosure lawyer/advocates Thomas Ice and Matthew Weidner were discussing the deposition testimony of mortgage company employees; Weidner recalled, "Tom and I were talking, and it was, 'Jesus, they're like robots!'" Weidner, a blogger, called them "robo signers" in a January 8, 2010 posting.https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304410504575560072576527604 The Wall Street Journal Robbie Whelan Niche Lawyers Spawned Housing Fracas October 21, 2010 27 January 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110125060735/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304410504575560072576527604.html 25 January 2011 live In 2009, Maine attorney Thomas Cox pointed out the wide-scale practice of robo-signing in depositions taken of GMAC's Jeffrey Stephan and other robo-signers.Jeffrey StephanCox Thomas Alumnus Fights to Stem Tide of 'Robo-Signer' Foreclosures: Thomas Cox ('69) filed suit in Maine that led to national foreclosure freeze http://www.bu.edu/law/news/cox-robo-sign.shtml February 16, 2013 August 4, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200804111847/http://www.bu.edu/law/news/cox-robo-sign.shtml dead News outlets reported that on September 14, 2010, Jeffrey Stephan testified that he had signed affidavits which he hadn't actually reviewed on behalf of Ally Financial.Whelan Robie https://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/10/07/debate-over-robo-signers-did-they-commit-fraud/ Robo-signer debate: Was it fraud? The Wall Street Journal October 7, 2010 October 18, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101010013440/https://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/10/07/debate-over-robo-signers-did-they-commit-fraud/ 10 October 2010 live This revelation led to increased scrutiny of foreclosure documentation. The practice was apparently common in the mortgage industry. In the weeks following the robo-signing revelation, other large banks came under fire for employing robo-signers as well, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.Prior Jon http://www.housingwire.com/2010/10/08/robo-signer-effect-on-housing-market-reaching-critical-mass Robo-signer effect on housing market reaching critical mass Housing Wire October 8, 2010 October 18, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101011000145/http://www.housingwire.com/2010/10/08/robo-signer-effect-on-housing-market-reaching-critical-mass 11 October 2010 live In the fall of 2010, major U.S. lenders such as JP Morgan Chase,https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704657304575540340176254622 The Wall Street Journal David Reilly U.S. Banks Get Boxed In on Foreclosures October 9, 2010 18 October 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101012042237/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657304575540340176254622.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 12 October 2010 live Ally Financial (formerly known as GMAC), and Bank of AmericaBond Andrew http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/10/08/bank-of-america-to-halt-foreclosures.aspx Bank of America to Halt Foreclosures (BAC, C, JPM, WFC) Fool.com 2010-10-08 2013-01-15 suspended judicial and non-judicial foreclosures across the United States over the potentially fraudulent practice of robo-signing. On September 21, 2010, HousingWire ran an article citing defects in affidavits used in some foreclosure cases at Ally Financial,Prior Jon Former GMAC servicer Ally cleans up foreclosure process, citing defects https://www.housingwire.com/articles/former-gmac-servicer-ally-cleans-foreclosure-process-citing-defects/ housingwire.com September 21, 2010 22 November 2024 formerly known as GMAC Mortgage. "This situation with GMAC isn't limited to GMAC," Margery Golant, of Golant & Golant, a foreclosure law firm in Boca Raton, Florida, said in an interview with HousingWire reporter Jon Prior. "All the mortgage servicers do the same thing. They have people either on the inside or through outsourcers that we call Robo-signers. They just sign everything in sight, but the legal system requires that they actually know the information." On July 18, 2011, the Associated Press and Reutershttps://www.reuters.com/article/foreclosure-banks-idUSL3E7II1UC20110718 Reuters SPECIAL REPORT: Banks still robo-signing, filing doubtful foreclosure documents July 18, 2011 19 July 2011 released two reports that robo-signing continued to be a major problem in U.S. courtrooms across America. The AP defined robo-signing as a "variety of practices. It can mean a qualified executive in the mortgage industry signs a mortgage affidavit document without verifying the information. It can mean someone forges an executive's signature, or a lower-level employee signs his or her own name with a fake title. It can mean failing to comply with notary procedures. In all of these cases, robo-signing involves people signing documents and swearing to their accuracy without verifying any of the information."https://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-mortgage-robo-signing-goes-205459921.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120204164404/https://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-mortgage-robo-signing-goes-205459921.html 2012-02-04 AP Exclusive: Mortgage 'robo-signing' goes on 19 July 2011 Yahoo News dead 26 March 2020 Role of MERS Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems MERS The Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, known as MERS, is a privately held company that operates an electronic registry designed to track servicing rights and ownership of mortgage loans in the United States.https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/relatedsellinginfo/mers Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Streamline Assignments of Mortgages 2009-04-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20101230172146/https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/relatedsellinginfo/mers/ December 30, 2010 dead mdy-all Since the 2010 crisis, 62 million mortgages are held in the name of MERS, Brown, Ellen Foreclosuregate: Time to Break Up the Too-Big-to-Fail Banks? http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/foreclosuregate-time-to-break-up-the-too-big-to-fails YES! Magazine October 15, 2010 October 19, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101019113656/http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/foreclosuregate-time-to-break-up-the-too-big-to-fails 19 October 2010 live and MERS has initiated thousands of foreclosures in the United States, claiming to be the mortgagee of record. Lawyers have contended in court that MERS has no legal right to initiate a foreclosure, because MERS does not own the loans in question. U.S. lending laws state that only the owner of a loan can initiate a foreclosure. Class action law suits against MERS are pending in California, Nevada, and Arizona. State courts remain sharply divided on the propriety of this practice. State supreme courts in Maine, Arkansas, and Kansas have ruled against MERS right to file for foreclosures. MERS has however won court cases in other states such as Michigan,https://zamzowlaw.com/articles/mortgages-foreclosure-and-creditors-rights-generally/ Factbox: Subhead Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) in foreclosure case: Residential Funding Co., L.L.C. v. Saurman, 490 Mich. 909 (2011) July 9, 2014 July 10, 2014 Zamzow PLLC affirming its right to initiate foreclosures in those states.https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69C69720101013 Factbox: The role of MERS in foreclosure furor October 13, 2010 October 18, 2010 Reuters Scot Paltrow https://web.archive.org/web/20101019033230/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69C69720101013 19 October 2010 live For example, the Third District Court of Appeals in Florida ruled, in 2007, that "... it is apparent - and we so hold - that no substantive rights, obligations or defenses are affected by the use of the MERS device, [so] there is no reason why mere form should overcome the salutary substance of permitting the use of this commercially effective means of business."as cited by Joseph Fried, Who Really Drove the Economy Into the Ditch (New York: Algora Publishing, 2012) 250. Attempted legislative fix In an apparent attempt to resolve some of the issues with missing, lost, and sometimes fraudulent paperwork both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate passed H.R. 3808 which would force courts to recognize out of state and electronic notarizations. The bill passed the Senate through a voice vote, and without debate. President Barack Obama, fearing "unintended consequences on consumer protections"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130405891&ft=1&f=1003 Obama to veto foreclosure documents bill NPR October 7, 2010 October 18, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101011175908/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130405891 October 11, 2010 dead utilized his veto powers, at first using a pocket veto by simply not signing the bill, and later by issuing a more formal protective-return veto.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/09/obama-clarifies-pocket-ve_n_756873.html Obama Clarifies Pocket Veto Of Controversial Bill Related To Foreclosures October 9, 2010 October 21, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101012204424/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/09/obama-clarifies-pocket-ve_n_756873.html 12 October 2010 live Huffington Post Arthur Delaney The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations (IRON) Act of 2010 would have required “any Federal or State court to recognize any notarization made by a notary public licensed by a State other than the State where the court is located when such notarization occurs in or affects interstate commerce.”http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3808/show#bill_list H.R.3808 - Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101026082039/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3808/show 26 October 2010 live The bill, written by U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) to help court stenographers in his district alleviate issues with getting courts in other states to accept depositions notarized in Alabama,http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-07/obama-rejects-notary-bill-amid-foreclosure-caution-.html Obama Rejects Notary Bill Amid Foreclosure 'Caution' 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101111052336/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-07/obama-rejects-notary-bill-amid-foreclosure-caution-.html 11 November 2010 dead came under criticism in October 2010 from homeowner advocates who said it would have made it easier for mortgage processors to foreclose on homeowners without proper documentation or chain of title.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08/how-the-controversial-for_n_755609.html How The Controversial Foreclosure Bill Made It Through Congress With No Public Debate Huffington Post 2010-10-08 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101201205153/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08/how-the-controversial-for_n_755609.html 1 December 2010 live Arthur Delaney The first version of the IRON Act (H.R. 1979), sponsored by Aderholt in 2005, passed the House of Representatives in December 2006.http://aderholt.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20&parentid=6&sectiontree=6,20&itemid=110 Congressman Aderholt Introduces Notary Public Bill 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100106004312/http://aderholt.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20&parentid=6&sectiontree=6,20&itemid=110 January 6, 2010 dead The same bill was later sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and introduced in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as S.2083 in 2007, but it ultimately stalled.https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/senate-bill/2083 S.2083 - Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2007 22 November 2024 The bill was again sponsored by Aderholt (R-AL) and introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 3808 on October 14, 2009. It passed by voice vote in the House on April 27, 2010. The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL). The bill was voted on in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 27 at the urging of Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Leahy's staff said that they had received calls from "constituents" pressing for passage of the bill.https://archive.thinkprogress.org/obama-should-veto-bill-that-makes-it-harder-for-foreclosure-victims-to-challenge-banks-updated-93ff9108b5f7/ Pat Garofalo Obama Should Veto Bill That Makes It Harder For Foreclosure Victims To Challenge Banks 22 November 2024 December 9, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101209145409/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/07/obama-veto-banks/ dead But Leahy may have supported the bill after being lobbied by notaries at a September event in D.C. honoring President Calvin Coolidge.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-10-07/obama-will-veto-notary-recognition-bill-on-possible-abuse-in-foreclosures Obama Rejects Notary Bill Amid Foreclosure 'Caution' 22 November 2024 7 October 2010 Lorraine Woellert Nicholas Johnston Bloomberg Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), who was ushering through many pieces of last-minute legislation on behalf of the Democratic leadership on the final day before the Senate adjourned for recess, moved the bill from the Judiciary committee for a vote. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) helped gather Republican support for the bill.October 7, 2010 Scot J. Paltrow https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-foreclosures-bill-idUSTRE6955YX20101007/ 22 November 2024 Bank foreclosure cover seen in bill at Obama's desk Reuters The Senate then passed the bill by unanimous consent without debate. Aderholt said that he and supporters “were surprised that it came through at the eleventh hour there” in the Senate. President Obama vetoed the bill on Oct. 8, following outcry from homeowner advocates and increased scrutiny from the press. Ohio's Secretary of State, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, emerged as one of the earliest critics of the bill, calling the timing of its passage “suspicious.” Brunner organized opposition to the bill, urging citizens to call and email the President and tell him not to sign the act.http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2010/10/secretary-brunner-please-tell-president-obama-not-to-sign-the-interstate-recognition-of-notarization.html Secretary Brunner: Please tell President Obama NOT to sign the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act https://web.archive.org/web/20120306011258/http://progressohio.org/blog/2010/10/secretary-brunner-please-tell-president-obama-not-to-sign-the-interstate-recognition-of-notarization.html 2012-03-06 usurped 26 March 2020 CNBC senior editor John Carney called the bill “mysterious” and wrote that the bill “might bail out banks such as GMAC, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America from their foreclosure gate troubles.”http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/39553012 Obama Rejects Foreclosure Gate Bailout Bill CNBC 7 December 2010 https://archive.today/20120710015943/http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/39553012 July 10, 2012 dead mdy-all Aderholt defended his bill in a statement: “There is absolutely no connection whatsoever between the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 and the recent foreclosure documentation problems... The bill expressly requires lawful notarizations, and in no way validates improper notarizations. Enforcement of legal notarizations is a state responsibility and I fully support each state attorney general vigorously prosecuting all notarization fraud.”http://aderholt.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20&sectiontree=6,20&itemid=1049 Aderholt Statement On The President's Veto Of His Bill 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101209234335/http://aderholt.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20&sectiontree=6,20&itemid=1049 December 9, 2010 dead Legal action against banks National Mortgage Settlement On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states.http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/faq Joint State-Federal Mortgage Servicing Settlement FAQ 15 June 2015 The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the states and federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/business/states-negotiate-26-billion-agreement-for-homeowners.html New York Times Mortgage Plan Gives Billions to Homeowners, but With Exceptions February 9, 2012 The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma under then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/nation-world/2012/02/10/oklahoma-is-lone-maverick-in-national-mortgage-settlement-signed-by-49-states/61097863007/ Richard Mize 2012-02-10 Oklahoma is lone maverick in national mortgage settlement signed by 49 states The Oklahoman January 5, 2015 Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, was tapped to be the Settlement Monitor. He created the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight (OMSO) to ensure the banks were providing relief to homeowners and complying with the new mortgage servicing standards as required by the NMS.https://www.mortgageoversight.com/ Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight 15 June 2015 National SunTrust Settlement The Federal government together with state attorneys general in 49 states and the District of Columbia reached a settlement in 2014 requiring SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., to provide $500 million (~$US-GDP 500000000 2014 in US-GDP) in various forms of relief to borrowers. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered the Consent Order on September 30, 2014. The consent order addressed SunTrust's alleged misconduct regarding its mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. SunTrust was also required to create a 40 million dollar fund for the approximately 45,000 SunTrust borrowers who were foreclosed upon between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2013. In addition, SunTrust was required to adhere to significant new homeowner protections. The consent order required that SunTrust follow the servicing standards set up by the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) with the five largest banks. Ocwen National Servicing Settlement The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), together with attorneys general and state banking regulators in 49 states, and the District of Columbia obtained a Consent Judgment requiring Ocwen Financial Corporation—who at the time, was the largest nonbank mortgage loan servicer in the country—and its subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing, to provide $2 billion in first lien principal reduction to underwater borrowers. The consent order addressed Ocwen's misconduct during the mortgage servicing process. It also covered two companies previously purchased by Ocwen, Litton Loan Servicing LP (“Litton”) and Homeward Residential Holdings LLC (previously known as American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. or AHMSI). Ocwen was also required to pay $125 million to the nearly 185,000 Ocwen, Litton, and Homeward borrowers who had been foreclosed upon and well as being required to adhere to significant new homeowner protections. See also 2008 financial crisis Bankruptcy remote – a desired feature of vehicles like REMICS Chain of title Independent foreclosure review Occupy Homes – a protest movement in order to save foreclosed homes. Real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) Shadow banking system References 30em Category:Great Recession in the United States Category:2000s in economic history Category:2010s in economic history United States Foreclosure Crisis, 2010 Fore Category:Economy of the United States Category:Financial crises in the United States Fore Category:2000s United States housing bubble Category:Urban decay in the United States Category:Foreclosure