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| Foreclosures On Military Families Continue |
Government Needs To Enforce
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
December 1, 2011
Banks continue to illegally foreclose and evict members of the armed forces while they are on
active military duty. This is clearly against the law. Apologies after the fact when they are caught is
not good enough. Triple damages would be justifiable and it would make the lenders think twice
before they put a military family out on the streets.
Ten lenders are reviewing approximately 5,000 foreclosures of homes belonging to active duty
members of our armed forces. With the increased volume of defaulted mortgages, many cases
have slipped through the cracks and were illegally foreclosed.
Bank of America reported that it is reviewing 2,400 files just to be sure that there were no
mistakes and wrongful foreclosures. Wells Fargo is looking at 900 cases and Citigroup will be
examining 700 of its files. Over at OneWest, formerly IndyMac, about 575 cases are being
scrutinized.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is there to protect our service men and women from
financial stress and difficulties while they are on active duty. The law is very clear. Foreclosure on
military personnel while they are on active duty is illegal.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency's data supports the claims that many service members
lost their homes to foreclosure while fighting abroad.
So far Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have settled with the Justice Department over these
foreclosures. They paid $20 million to settle 175 claims.
JP Morgan Chase has publicly admitted to illegally foreclosing on 27 military families. We have to
give credit to the bank in this case because it attempted to correct the mistakes. The bank tried to
give the homes back to the families, and in cases where the homes were already sold, a cash
settlement was negotiated.
Foreclosure is not the only problem facing military personnel. Hidden fees and overcharging
during a refinance are some of the other issues facing our servicemembers when they are dealing
with the major banks.
Laws have to be able to be enforced. If there are no substantial penalties, the banks will continue
to break every law in the books. It's a cost of doing business when they are caught.
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
December 1, 2011
Banks continue to illegally foreclose and evict members of the armed forces while they are on
active military duty. This is clearly against the law. Apologies after the fact when they are caught is
not good enough. Triple damages would be justifiable and it would make the lenders think twice
before they put a military family out on the streets.
Ten lenders are reviewing approximately 5,000 foreclosures of homes belonging to active duty
members of our armed forces. With the increased volume of defaulted mortgages, many cases
have slipped through the cracks and were illegally foreclosed.
Bank of America reported that it is reviewing 2,400 files just to be sure that there were no
mistakes and wrongful foreclosures. Wells Fargo is looking at 900 cases and Citigroup will be
examining 700 of its files. Over at OneWest, formerly IndyMac, about 575 cases are being
scrutinized.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is there to protect our service men and women from
financial stress and difficulties while they are on active duty. The law is very clear. Foreclosure on
military personnel while they are on active duty is illegal.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency's data supports the claims that many service members
lost their homes to foreclosure while fighting abroad.
So far Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have settled with the Justice Department over these
foreclosures. They paid $20 million to settle 175 claims.
JP Morgan Chase has publicly admitted to illegally foreclosing on 27 military families. We have to
give credit to the bank in this case because it attempted to correct the mistakes. The bank tried to
give the homes back to the families, and in cases where the homes were already sold, a cash
settlement was negotiated.
Foreclosure is not the only problem facing military personnel. Hidden fees and overcharging
during a refinance are some of the other issues facing our servicemembers when they are dealing
with the major banks.
Laws have to be able to be enforced. If there are no substantial penalties, the banks will continue
to break every law in the books. It's a cost of doing business when they are caught.