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32 AACER: BANKRUPTCY FILINGS CONTINUE YEAR-OVER-YEAR DECLINE, BUT RISE 10 PERCENT MONTHLY While bankruptcy filings nationwide in February continued their trend of year-over-year declines since the foreclosure crisis peaked in 2010, the number of filings rose slightly from January to February, according to AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems. While February included one fewer filing day than January (19 compared to 20), bankruptcy filings nationwide totaled 65,002 for February, up from 59, 050 in January (an increase of 10 percent). Total filings computed to an average of 3,421 per day in February compared with 2,953 per day in January. Since February 2010, when 117,988 bankruptcy filings were reported for the month nationwide, the number of filings has declined steadily every February. February 2015's total number of filings (65,002) is a 10 percent decrease from the total reported in February 2014 (72,267) and a 40 percent decrease from the peak total reached in February 2010. February's total is also a drop from 2014's monthly average, which was 75,840. e total number of bankruptcy filings year-to-date for the first two months of 2015 is 124,052, compared to 140,542 for the first two months of 2014. e state with the most cumulative filings year-to-date is California with 12,974, followed by Illinois at 9,084. Florida was a close third at 8,961. In filings per capita for the first two months of 2015, Tennessee and Alabama were once again first and second among states with 5.17 and 4.83 filings for every 1,000 people, respectively. While these states remained in the top two positions for most filings per capita, the February numbers represented slight declines from their January totals (5.28 for Tennessee and 5.24 for Alabama). However, the national average in bankruptcy filings per capita ticked slightly upward from January to February, from 2.28 up to 2.39. Georgia, which ranked third in filings per capita, also saw a month-over-month increase from 4.57 up to 4.66. Illinois, which ranked fourth, fueled the national increase in filings per capita with a leap from 3.89 in January to 4.22 in February. Mississippi, which ranked fifth, saw a spike in bankruptcy filings per capita from 3.33 to 3.69. Sixth-ranked Utah experienced a month-over-month jump in filings per capita from 3.28 up to 3.51. Epiq Systems is a leading global provider of technology-enabled solutions for electronic discovery, bankruptcy, and class-action administration. Top legal professionals depend on the company for deep subject-matter expertise and years of first-hand experience working on many of the largest, most high- profile, and complex client engagements. Epiq Systems, Inc., has locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia. There were approximately 552,000 completed foreclosures in the 12-month period from February 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015—down from 657,000 for the 12-month period a year earlier, according to CoreLogic. KNOW THIS METLIFE TO PAY $123 MILLION TO RESOLVE CLAIMS OF LENDING VIOLATIONS ON LOANS BACKED BY FHA, HUD MetLife Home Loans, a mortgage finance company headquartered in Irving, Texas, has agreed to pay $123.5 million to settle claims of lending violations on government- backed mortgage loans committed by one of its subsidiaries under the False Claims Act, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the Department of Justice, MetLife Bank, a New Jersey-based banking services company that merged with MetLife Home Loans in 2013, knowingly originated mortgage loans that were insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that did not meet applicable requirements. MetLife Bank was, and MetLife Home Loans is, a subsidiary of New York-based holding company MetLife Inc. "MetLife Bank's improper FHA lending practices not only wasted taxpayer funds but also inflicted harm on homeowners and the housing market that lasts to this day," Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department's Civil Division said. "As this settlement shows, we will continue to hold accountable financial institutions that elected to ignore the rules and to pursue their own financial interests at the expense of hardworking Americans." MetLife Home Loans admitted as part of the settlement that it certified many FHA- insured mortgage loans that did not meet HUD's underwriting requirements during a three-and-a-half-year period from September 2008 to March 2012 and that MetLife Bank was aware that a "substantial percentage" of these loans were ineligible for FHA mortgage insurance as determined by the bank's own quality control findings. ose findings were routinely shared and known to MetLife Bank's senior managers. MetLife Bank reportedly downgraded FHA loans from a "material/significant" deficiency rating to a "moderate" deficiency rating. Between January 2009 and December 2011, MetLife Bank's quality control process identified 1,097 mortgage loans the bank had underwritten that were rated as having "significant" deficiency, but the bank reported only 321 of those loans to HUD. According to the Department of Justice, the bank's actions resulted in FHA insuring hundreds of mortgage loans that were ineligible for FHA insurance—and as a result, when those loans defaulted, FHA suffered "substantial losses" when paying out insurance claims made by the mortgagees. "MetLife Bank took advantage of the FHA insurance program by knowingly turning a blind eye to mortgage loans that did not meet basic un- derwriting requirements and stuck the FHA and taxpayers with the bill when those mortgages defaulted," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh of the District of Colorado, which investigated the case jointly with HUD, the HUD inspector general, and the Civil Division. "is settlement is part of our systematic, national effort to hold lenders ac- countable for irresponsible lending practices that not only harmed FHA but also contributed to a catastrophic wave of home foreclosures across the country."

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