DS News - Digital Archives

VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM said the government is not focused enough on the state's housing market. "Underwater mortgages are the latest Mark Seifert, executive director of ESOP, incarnation of a foreclosure crisis that just won't go away in Ohio," Seifert said. "Yet, the ongoing debate this year has not been focused on underwater homeowners and fix- ing our struggling housing market. We need real solutions and analysis about the housing crisis if we are to move towards rebuilding and stabilizing our communities." There are 530,000 Ohio families under- the "Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act" set to expire at the end of the year. Michael Byun, executive director of ASIA, said government officials would do well to listen to homeowners' concerns. "It's time for our elected officials and water, approximately 25 percent of the state's homeowners. Some counties are seeing 30-40 percent of homeowners underwater. In addition, the state ranks 11th in the nation for the highest foreclosure rates. Seifert urged policymakers to con- sider principal reduction as a preventative measure. "The most urgent policy Congress needs to consider is principal correction—re- ducing over-sized mortgage balances to meet home values that have declined during the financial crisis and housing bust," he said. Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), opposes principal reduction programs for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He says "the anticipated benefits do not outweigh the costs and risks." A release from ESOP fol- lowing the Akron town hall meeting called upon DeMarco to "either step aside or make way for principal correction." Homeowners also asked officials about presidential candidates to listen to home- owners' needs and voices," Byun said. "They need to understand that they cannot talk about jobs and the economy without talking about how the foreclosure crisis and un- derwater mortgages-and a lack of principal correction-is preventing people from pursu- ing a better quality of life and economic opportunity." Eight Companies Sued for Alleged 'Abusive Foreclosure Practices' in Ohio mortgage industry alleges the defendants used fraudulent mortgage documents to pro- cess foreclosures on Ohio homeowners and charged the foreclosed homeowners inflated, unfair fees. The defendants named in the lawsuit A lawsuit against eight companies in the the note and the mortgage, they would not be in legal standing to foreclose on the homeowners. When clients did not have proper documents, the lawsuit alleges the defendants "fabricated thousands of mortgage assignments" to proceed with the foreclosures. The suit was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in late July. Fifth Third Bank Takes Top Spot for Servicing Performance outshined all other servicers in Fannie Mae's Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) program in 2011. The bank came closer than any other bank receiving four out of five available stars for its foreclosure prevention efforts. A five star rating "represents superior Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank performance wherein the servicer is meeting or exceeding Fannie Mae's targets," accord- ing to the GSE. For the first half of 2012, Fifth Third the progress of other steps Congress has taken to ease the crisis, including the "Responsible Homeowners Refinancing Act of 2012" currently stalled in the Senate, and STAT INSIGHT Average discount on Ohio REOs in the second quarter. 49% Source: RealtyTrac are Lender Processing Services; LPS Default Solutions; DocX; Fidelity National Information Services; American Home Mortgage Servicing; Lerner, Sampson and Rothfuss; Reimer, Arnovitz, Chernek and Jeffrey Co.; and Manley Deas Kochalski LLC. The plaintiffs are seven Ohio residents, but others may seek monetary claims in the class-action suit. According to an article from The Plain Dealer, the Cleveland law firm of Kaufman and Co., along with five other firms filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs. An article from the Associated Press also reported Ohio's ex-attorney gen- eral, Marc Dann, is among those who filed for the plaintiffs. According to the lawsuit, the compa- Bank maintained its status of performing "at or above median levels relative to [its] peers." Fannie Mae separates servicers into three peer groups to compare performance. Fifth Third and Regions bank were the only two out of the 10 servicers in the second peer group to perform at or above median levels. In peer group one, nine out of 10 servicers earned at least a median rating for the first half of this year, including CitiMortgage, EverBank, GMAC Mortgage, Green Tree Servicing, JPMorgan Chase, Nationstar Mortgage, PHH Mortgage, Seterus, and Wells Fargo. Of the third peer group, 11 of 13 servicers nies were involved in "abusive foreclosure practices" that involved preparing, executing, and notarizing fraudulent court documents and assignments of mortgages used to initi- ate and prosecute foreclosures. The lawsuit also alleges the companies imposed inflated, unreasonable fees for "default management services." In Ohio, a "foreclosing entity must establish ownership of the note and the mortgage securing the debt at issue," the complaint states. The plaintiffs contend the defendants knew that unless their clients owned both earned at least a median rating for foreclo- sure prevention services. Those servicers include Associated Bank, The Branch Banking and Trust Company, Capital One, Colonial Savings, M&T Bank, Nationwide Advantage, Navy Federal Credit Union, Sovereign Bank, FSB, Third Federal Savings and Loan, and Trustmark National Bank. "[W]e've seen servicers make measur- able improvements over the course of the program's first 18 months," said Leslie Peeler, SVP of Fannie Mae's National Servicing Organization. "Fannie Mae wants servicers to be responsive to homeowners who are struggling and work with them to prevent as many foreclosures as possible." 103

• Cover