TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/644700
TH E M R EP O RT | 51 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G A NA LY T I C S S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T According to the data, Equifax (1,137), TransUnion (1,123), and Experian (969) were the most- complained-about companies for July to September 2015. The CFPB has handled about 770,100 complaints as of December 1, 2015, which includes 21,000 complaints in November. The CFPB reported that debt collection, mortgage, and credit reporting complaints remain the top three most-complained-about consumer financial products and services, collectively representing about 68 percent of complaints submitted in November 2015. Overall, complaints are down 12 percent from October 2015 to November 2015, the CFPB said. During the same time period, mortgage complaints declined 10 percent. In November, the CFPB received 4,045 mortgage complaints, bringing the total to 205,915. OCC Frees JPMorgan, EverBank from MSA THE GOVERNMENT AGENCY AXED THE YEARS-OLD MORTGAGE-RELATED CONSENT ORDERS THAT HAD BEEN LEVIED AGAINST THE TWO BANKS. NEW YORK // The good news for JPMorgan Chase Bank and EverBank: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced it has terminated mortgage-related consent orders against them. Now the bad news for those two banks: The OCC assessed civil money penalties against them for previous violations of those same consent orders. The consent orders were originally issued in April 2011 by the OCC and the former Office of Thrift Supervision and later amended in February 2013 and June 2015. The OCC determined that both New York-based JPMorgan Chase and Florida-based EverBank are now in compliance with the consent orders and has therefore termi - nated the orders, ending business restrictions affecting the two banks as mandated by the June 2015 amendments. JPMorgan Chase issued the following statement regarding the OCC's decision: "Doing what's right for our customers has always been our top priority. Our mortgage employees have worked very hard over the last several years to make changes that will further enhance the customer experience, and we're pleased by the outcome of the OCC's assessment of our work." EverBank spokesman Michael Cosgrove declined to comment on the OCC's decision beyond what was stated in the company's 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In June 2015, the OCC determined that EverBank, JPMorgan Chase, and four other institutions (HSBC Bank USA, Santander Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo) had not met all the requirements of the 2013 Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) Payment Agreement, and, therefore, the OCC issued orders to restrict their business activities. The restrictions included limitations on the acquisition of residential MSR portfolios, new contracts to perform residential mortgage servicing for other parties, the outsourcing or sub-servicing of new residential mortgage servicing activities to other parties, off-shoring new residential mortgage servicing activities, and new appointments of senior officers responsible for residential mortgage servicing. A spokesman for the OCC told MReport that the restric - tions are meant to focus servicer action on meeting the remaining requirements in their respec- tive consent orders and that the restrictions will not impede consumers' access to mortgage loans. The OCC said the restric- tions will vary based on the individual circumstances of each bank, and the agency will con- tinue to monitor the corrective actions for these institutions. It determined that JPMorgan Chase and EverBank now comply with the consent orders. At the same time it announced the termination of the consent orders against JPMorgan Chase and EverBank, the OCC assessed civil money penalties of $48 million against JPMorgan and $1 million against EverBank. JPMorgan Chase's civil money penalty was assessed for violating the 2011 consent order from October 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, according to the OCC. Also, from December 1, 2011, until November 19, 2013, "JPMorgan engaged in filing practices in bankruptcy courts with respect to payment change notices that did not comply with bankruptcy rules and constituted unsafe or unsound banking practices," the OCC stated in its release. EverBank received a civil money penalty from the OCC for violating the 2011 consent order. According to the OCC, EverBank improperly charged fees between January 2011 and March 2015 to approximately 47,000 borrowers. The improperly charged fees were related to mortgage electronic registration system assignments, property inspections, and late fees and were outside the scope of the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) and the 2013 IFR Payment Agreement, according to the OCC. The Independent Foreclosure Review concluded in January 2013 with 10 mortgage servicers reaching an agreement with the Fed and the OCC to pay a combined total of $8.5 billion to more than 3.8 million home - owners whose homes were in foreclosure in 2009 and 2010. The sum included $3.3 billion to be paid directly to borrowers. The claims allege that the servicers mishandled loan paperwork and robo-signed documents related to the foreclosures. The settlement totals were later increased to 15 servicers and a total of $10 bil - lion in payments, according to the Fed. According to the OCC, EverBank has begun making $1.6 million in remediation payments to affected borrowers. The civil monetary penalties assessed against JPMorgan Chase and EverBank will be paid to Treasury, according to the OCC. THE LATEST SERVICING "Doing what's right for our customers has always been our top priority. Our mortgage employees have worked very hard over the last several years to make changes that will further enhance the customer experience, and we're pleased by the outcome of the OCC's assessment of our work." —JPMorgan Chase statement