Too Little Too Late?
Citibank…Bank of America…JPMorgan Chase…Wells Fargo…what do all of these things have in common? They are among the 16 largest mortgage lenders and servicers in America that are being ordered by the U.S. government to be audited for improper foreclosures dating back to 2009. The government is giving these financial giants 45 days to hire an independent auditor and reimburse homeowners who were improperly foreclosed upon. At this time, there has not been a dollar amount identified as to how much the homeowners could receive.
Democrats in Congress question this agreement and indicate that more could be done to protect homeowners from fraudulently losing their homes. They would like to see an order requiring lenders to go through a series of steps before starting foreclosure proceedings against individual homeowners. That really might be the only way to stop the abuse committed by the banks that has been occurring for the last four years.
And the current agreement might be coming a little too late. How does the current agreement help those people who have been kicked out of their homes already due to improper procedures? You can’t really put someone back into a home that has already been sold! If more people had been given the opportunity to work toward a meaningful loan modification, this may not have become such a problem. I wonder how many of the 5 million plus homeowners that have been foreclosed upon in the last four years will be eligible to receive these funds. Only time will tell what the result will be of the audit and how it will actually help those people who have already lost their homes.
This blog was written by Attorney Danielle Zemola. of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Ms. Zemola defends homeowner in the foreclosure process and in the Bankruptcy Court.
