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25 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM CFPB RECOVERS $1 MILLION FOR VETERANS e Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that servicemembers, veterans, and their families who complained to the bureau about financial products or services have recovered more than $1 million. e report covers more than 14,000 complaints filed from July 21, 2011, through February 1, 2014. Mortgage complaints made up approximately 4,700 of complaints filed by veterans and their fami- lies, which made up 33 percent of total complaints. "e most common type of mortgage com- plaint concerns problems consumers face when they are unable to make payments, such as issues related to loan modifications, collections, or foreclosures (55 percent)," the report said. e CFPB said that companies have already responded to approximately 3,700, or 91 percent, of the complaints sent to them. e median monetary relief reported by military consumers was $470. Consumers have disputed approximately 900 company responses to mortgage complaints. "Military families make enormous sacrifices for our nation and deserve to be protected," said CFPB director Richard Cordray. "I am pleased that the bureau has assisted thousands in cutting through red tape when dealing with their financial institu- tions. However, the complaints show that many servicemembers, veterans, and their families are not getting the protections accorded to them by federal laws and that raises concern." According to the report, a large concern for veterans is working with mortgage servicers after re- ceiving Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. "In particular, military consumers have reported frustration with mortgage servicers' lack of knowledge about military-specific programs. Consumers report that servicers remain unaware of the permanent change of station guidance issued by the CFPB and other federal financial regulators as well as short-sale guidelines aimed at assisting ser- vicemembers with PCS orders, such as the Federal Housing Financial Agency's August 2012 Short Sale Guidelines for Fannie and Freddie Loans," the report said. Other common types of mortgage complaints were related to making payments, such as loan ser- vicing, payments, or escrow accounts (26 percent), according to the CFPB's report. JPMORGAN TO PAY $614M OVER FALSE CLAIMS JPMorgan Chase announced a settle- ment with the government, putting to bed yet another complaint in a long line of legal issues plaguing the megabank. e Justice Department (DOJ) and JPMorgan both announced that the bank will pay $614 million in restitution for violations of the False Claims Act. e government claims that starting as early as 2002, the firm knowingly originated and underwrote non- compliant loans submitted for insurance cov- erage and guarantees by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As a consequence, the DoJ said FHA and VA "incurred substantial losses when unqualified loans failed and caused [the agen- cies] to cover the associated losses." "is settlement recovers wrongfully claimed funds for vital government programs that give millions of Americans the op- portunity to own a home and sends a clear message that we will take appropriately aggressive action against financial institutions that knowingly engage in improper mortgage lending practices," said Associate Attorney General Tony West. As part of the settlement, JPMorgan also agreed to enhance its quality control program for future loans submitted to FHA's Direct Endorsement Lender program. In a statement, JPMorgan said, "e settlement represents another significant step in the firm's efforts to put historical mortgage- related issues behind it." e bank added that it is fully reserved for the settlement. Total VA loans issued | Average loan amount | Total amount of VA lending LENDING A HELPING HAND TO AMERICA'S FINEST Texas was the state with the largest number of VA home loans issued in 2013 with 57,567, which is 15 percent more home loans than were issued in 2012. In 2012, 48,763 VA home loans were issued in Texas. Source: veteransunited.com *All data comes from completed year running January to December of that year. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 325,700 $209,400 $68 Billion 314,000 $207,000 65 Billion 357,600 $209,600 $75 Billion 540,000 $220,800 $119 Billion 630,000 $225,600 $142 Billion