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32 LAWMAKERS ASK FINANCIAL FIRMS FOR INFORMATION ON DATA BREACHES Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachu- setts) and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) sent letters in November 2014 to 16 financial institutions requesting detailed information regarding data breaches and seek- ing information about briefings from corporate IT officials, according to an announcement on Warren's web site. e letters were prompted by multiple press reports, notably a front page story in USA Today, stating that hackers have been attempt- ing to breach firms' financial data as part of a broad cyber-attack campaign, and it is believed that the breaches have caused more than 500 million records to be compromised. Institutions targeted by the letters included banks, invest- ment firms, and other financial service providers, according to the announcement. "e increasing number of cyber-attacks and data breaches is unprecedented and poses a clear and present danger to our nation's economic security," Cummings and Warren wrote to the institutions. "Each successive cyber-attack and data breach not only results in hefty costs and li- abilities for businesses, but exposes consumers to identity theft and other fraud, as well as a host of other cyber-crimes. Your ability to protect con- sumers and safeguard their personal information is central to earning and maintaining consumer confidence in our economic system." Warren and Cummings stated in the letters that the "U.S. financial sector is one of the most targeted in the world," according to law enforce- ment officials, and they believe that as many as 80 percent of victims whose businesses were hacked did not even realize it until investigators had informed them. e 16 institutions targeted by Warren and Cummings in the letters were: ADP, Bank of America, Bank of NY Mellon, Bank of the West, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, E-Trade, Fidelity, GE, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Regions, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, according to Warren's web site. Warren and Cummings requested the information on the data breaches to be sent to them by Decem- ber 19 and the information on the IT briefings to be sent to them by December 8. Warren and Cummings requested from two of the institutions, Citigroup and U.S. Bank, information about how the data breaches "may have affected their administration of govern- ment purchase and charge cards under contracts with the General Services Administration." Earlier in the month, Warren and Cum- mings sent similar letters to retailers such as Home Depot, Target, and K-Mart as well as to the U.S. Postal Service and State Department. NON-FORECLOSURE SOLUTIONS STILL TOTAL NEARLY HALF A MILLION IN Q3 DESPITE YEARLY DROP OFF e number of U.S. homeowners who received non-foreclosure solutions in the third quarter of 2014 totaled approximately 468,000 despite seeing large year-over-year declines in every category of non-foreclosure solutions, according to data released this week by the HOPE NOW Alliance. Overall, foreclosure completions saw a significant decline in the third quarter of 2014. About 108,000 foreclosure sales were completed during Q 3, which is the lowest total for any quarter since HOPE NOW began tracking the data in 2007. e number of foreclosure sales in Q 3 represented a decline of 6 percent (115,000) from the previous quarter and 36 percent (166,000) from the same period in 2013. Non-foreclosure solutions, which include permanent loan modifications, short sales, repayment plans, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and other retention plans, declined by 19 percent from Q 3 2013 to Q 3 2014 (579,000 compared to 468,000), according to HOPE NOW. Despite the decline, non-foreclosure solutions still totaled more than four times that of foreclosure completions (108,000) in Q 3, just as they did in the second quarter. Also despite the large year- over-year drop, the number of non-foreclosure solutions increased by 11 percent from the second quarter of 2014 to the third quarter (421,000 up to 468,000). Foreclosure starts plummeted by 27 percent year-over-year in the third quarter, down to 212,000 from 290,000, according to HOPE NOW. Quarter-over-quarter, however, fore- closure starts jumped 6 percent from Q2 to Q 3 (200,000 up to 212,000) About 109,000 homeowners received loan modifications in the third quarter, a decline of about 6 percent from the previous quarter and 40 percent from the same period a year ago. About 79,000 of the homeowners who received loan mods in Q 3 obtained proprietary loan mods and slightly more than 29,000 of them received loan mods under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to HOPE NOW. Short sales, which are sales of the properties for less than the balance of debts secured by liens against the properties, totaled 30,000 in Q 3, a decline of 9 percent (33,000) from the previous quarter and 56 percent from Q 3 2013 (68,000), according to HOPE NOW. e number of deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure was reported at 7,000 for Q 3, which was a drop of about 7 percent from Q2 (7,500) and 4 percent from Q 3 2013 (7,300). Mortgage loans that were 60 or more days delinquent declined 10 percent year-over-year in Q 3, from 2.11 million down to 1.89 million, according to HOPE NOW. "While the third quarter did show declines across the board in mortgage solutions, it is im- portant to note that foreclosure sales and serious delinquencies have declined accordingly," said Eric Selk, executive director of HOPE NOW. "e delinquency trends, quarter over quarter, show a steady improvement in the national mar- ket and point towards housing stabilization." As part of an ongoing community stabiliza- tion effort that includes providing assistance to homeowners struggling with their mortgage loans, HOPE NOW has scheduled an outreach meeting for December 6 in the Tacoma, Wash- ington, area that will be attended by Congress- man Denny Heck (D-Washington). A large number of military homeowners are expected to attend due to the close proximity (about 15 miles) of Tacoma to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. "As we head into 2015, we will be targeting markets for outreach based on the delinquent portfolios of our members," Selk said. "e need for partnership between our members and local non-profits, community leaders and others is paramount to our efforts in reaching at-risk families. We will also continue to make outreach to service members a high priority."

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