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33 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM DUAL-TRACKING AND LOSS MITIGATION RUNAROUNDS ARE AMONG SERVICING PROBLEMS FOUND BY CFPB e Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently shared its eighth Supervisory Highlights Report. e report covers the illegal practices the Bureau uncovers in areas such as consumer reporting, debt collection, student loan servicing, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, and fair lending for the first four months of the year. According to the report, the CFPB found problems with dual-tracking, which could lead consumers to believe their trial modifications were canceled. ey also found a lack of quality control measures in place at consumer reporting agencies. Across all industries, the CFPB supervisory resolutions resulted in the recovery of $11.6 million for over 80,000 consumers. "We are extremely concerned that one year after the CFPB's mortgage servicing rules went into effect we are still finding runarounds and illegal dual-tracking," said Richard Cordray, CFPB director. "Consumers deserve to be treated with honesty and integrity, and our rules require that servicers give borrowers a fair process when they try to save their homes. e CFPB will continue to stand beside consumers to make sure mortgage servicers are following the law." e CFPB has authority to supervise banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets and certain nonbanks under the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the report said. When violations of law or other significant problems or weaknesses are pointed out by the CFPB, the bureau reveals these concerns to the institution and outlines how to fix the issue. e CFPB will open an investigation for potential enforcement actions, if necessary. All entities are expected to respond to customer complaints and identify major issues and trends that may pose broader risks to their customers under the CFPB. e report specifically found: » Illegal dual-tracking of foreclosures and loss mitigation applications: CFPB examiners reported at least one servicer that had sent foreclosure intent notices to borrowers who were already approved for trial modifications. Dual-tracking such as this can make consumers believe the servicer cancelled the trial modification. e bureau also made note of at least one servicer that sent foreclosure notices to borrowers who were current on their loans. » Illegal runarounds with loss mitigation applications: When dealing with a homeowner's loss mitigation application, servicers must notify the homeowner upon receipt and let him or her know the exact status of the application, according to new CFPB rules. At least one servicer was illegally requesting additional documents from consumers that had nothing to do with the application. » Debt collection complaints disregarded: e report found that at least one debt collector did not record, categorize, or process complaints and inquires. Other collectors failed to review or resolve these complaints and inquiries. Debt collectors also failed to conduct investigations of disputes. » Accuracy problems at consumer reporting agencies: Examiners also found accuracy problems at one or more of the credit reporting agencies. ese inaccuracies stemmed from issues with information collection and quality control. » Fair lending violations: One or more institutions denied or discouraged mortgage applications from consumers who would have used public assistance income to repay the loan, according to the CFPB. is violates the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The U6 unemployment rate, which counts both people without work seeking full-time employment and those workers "marginally attached to the labor force and those working part-time for economic reasons," dropped 1.6 percentage points year-over-year and 0.3 percentage points month-over-month down to 10.5 percent in June 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. KNOW THIS

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