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ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM SERVICERS DISTRIBUTE $46B IN RELIEF UNDER NATIONAL SETTLEMENT A year after the nation's five largest mortgage servicers reached a monumental settlement with 49 state's attorneys general and several federal agencies, the servicers have reportedly provided 550,000 homeowners with $45.83 billion in mortgage assistance, according to the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. In late February, the independent settlement monitor, Joseph Smith, issued his third progress report since the agreement was forged. With the release of the report, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan specifically touted the servicers' use of principal writedowns. "We have already surpassed our initial expectations, and the settlement is a testament to the fact that large scale principal reduction can be used as an important tool in our efforts to prevent foreclosures without incurring negative results," Donovan said. The greatest portion of the nearly $46 billion distributed went to "relief to support homeownership," according to Smith's report. About $24.7 billion fell into this category. Short sales made up another significant portion of servicers' efforts, totaling $19.5 billion. First-lien modifications totaled $6.04 billion, and active trials in progress stood at $3.49 billion. Refinance relief tallied $2.21 billion, and forbearance forgiveness reached $1.37 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2012, servicers doled out $23.9 billion in consumer relief to 276,413 homeowners. A little more than 33,000 homeowners received first-lien modifications amounting to about $3.86 billion in principal forgiveness. Another 120,000 received second-lien modifications or extinguishments, totaling $8.76 billion. Relief through short sales in the fourth quarter totaled $6.41 billion and went out to 55,580 homeowners. In addition to observing the consumer relief efforts of the participating five servicers (Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo), Smith keeps tabs on consumer and professional complaints submitted through his website. He has received 5,700 complaints from consumers across all states. For the first six months the settlement agreement was in place, Smith received about 550 complaints per month. Since November, complaints have averaged about 830 per month. "This may be the result of greater awareness of my office, the result of persistent servicing issues, or both," Smith stated in his report. Common consumer complaints include issues with loan modifications, changes in single points of contact (SPOCs) or lack of follow-up by a SPOC, requests for the same documentation to be submitted multiple times, and "questionable or undocumented fees." Complaints from professionals also often pertain to loan modifications and customer service issues, according to the monitor's report. 31