Countrywide Borrowers Settlement - April 26th Deadline

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United States vs. Countrywide

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Notification Begins to Borrowers Eligible for Payments from $335 Million Lending Discrimination Settlement Between the Department of Justice and Countrywide Financial Corporation (United States v. Countrywide Financial Corp., et al. (C.D. Cal., December 2011)

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          Independent Settlement Administrator Rust Consulting, Inc. on November 16, 2012 began mailing letters to borrowers whom the United States has identified as entitled to payments from the Countrywide lending discrimination settlement fund. The letters notify recipients that they have been identified as victims, list the minimum payments they can receive, and include response forms.

          Borrowers receiving letters must sign and mail their response form by April 26, 2013 to participate in the settlement. The response form is designed to be easy to complete, and it can be returned using the prepaid envelope enclosed with the letter. In mid 2013, the Settlement Administrator plans to mail a letter with the exact payment amount and a release form to those who return the response form. Individuals with questions about the United States v. Countrywide Financial Corporation lending discrimination settlement may contact Rust, in English or Spanish, by telephone at 1-800-843-5148 or by email atinfo@CWFLSettlement.com.

          The $335 million settlement fund being administered by Rust was created as part of resolving the United States' allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against more than 200,000 qualified Hispanic and African-American borrowers across the country who received mortgage loans from 2004 through 2008, as well as allegations of discrimination on the basis of marital status by encouraging non-applicant spouses to sign away their rights in jointly-held property when the applicant spouse took out a loan in his or her own name. Letters will go out at a later date to borrowers potentially affected by the alleged marital status discrimination.

          The settlement, which was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, provided for an independent settlement administrator (Rust) to contact and distribute compensation payments at no cost to borrowers whom the department identifies as victims of Countrywide's discrimination. Rust's activities are overseen by the Department of Justice, and all of Rust's costs and expenses will be paid by Countrywide.

           A copy of the United States' lending discrimination complaint against Countrywide, the approved settlement order, and additional information about fair lending enforcement by the Department of Justice, can be found on the Department's website at www.justice.gov/fairhousing.

          The letters being mailed out beginning November 16 are the first mailing being sent to victims relating to the Countrywide lending discrimination settlement, although many Countrywide borrowers have previously received legitimate letters relating to other settlements with Countrywide not related to discrimination. Countrywide borrowers should treat with caution any mailings or phone calls that tell borrowers they must pay to participate in the settlement, or contacts that do not come from Rust related to the lending discrimination settlement, as such letters might be part of a scam. All mailings from Rust related to the lending discrimination settlement will have the seal of the United States Department of Justice and use the return address "Countrywide Fair Lending Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, PO Box 8048, Faribault, MN 55021," and will ask victims to return response forms to that address. Any potential scams related to the Countrywide lending discrimination settlement should be reported to Rust by telephone at 1-800-843-5148, or to the Department of Justice at 202-514-4713.

          Today's announcement only addresses the Department of Justice's December 2011, $335 million settlement resolving claims that Countrywide discriminated in making loans. It is separate from the March 2012, $25 billion settlement between the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 49 state attorneys general and the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. Individuals can obtain more information about that separate mortgage servicing settlement by visitingwww.nationalmortgagesettlement.com. Countrywide borrowers can contact Bank of America at 1-877-488-7814 to obtain information about loan modifications or other relief that they may qualify for under that separate settlement.

SWEET JUSTICE!!!! YES!

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Homeowner Forecloses On Bank Of America

In Florida an angry homeowner whose home was wrongfully foreclosed on by Bank of America gets revenge by foreclosing on the bank's local branch. In Georgia, in a different property dispute, a city court judge threatens to jail the local BofA branch manager for contempt of court.

Any relation between the two incidents? "Just mere coincidences," says bank spokesperson Jumana Bauwens. Still, if you're BofA, you've got to be asking yourself: Where's the loveIn Florida an angry homeowner whose home was wrongfully foreclosed on by Bank of America gets revenge by foreclosing on the bank's local branch. In Georgia, in a different property dispute, a city court judge threatens to jail the local BofA branch manager for contempt of court.

Any relation between the two incidents? "Just mere coincidences," says bank spokesperson Jumana Bauwens. Still, if you're BofA, you've got to be asking yourself: Where's the love?

The Florida incident arose when the bank foreclosed on Warren and Maureen Nyerges of Golden Gate Estates in Naples. This surprised the Nyerges, since they had no mortgage--not with BofA or with anybody else. They had paid cash for their home in 2009.

Warren Nyerges made phone calls to the bank to try to get them to desist. "I talked to branch managers, I called anyone who would listen to me," hetold the Naples News. "I wrote a certified letter to the [bank] president. No response, nothing." Finally he hired an attorney. Two months later, the foreclosure had been dismissed.

Nyerges then sought to recover his attorney's fees, and got a judgment against the bank. Five more months passed: more phone calls, more letters; no payment. Nyerges went back to court and got a writ of execution, which gave him permission to seize bank assets in payment for his judgment.

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On June 3, Nyerges, two sheriff's deputies and a moving truck showed up at the local BofA branch. The deputies informed the manager that he could either pay the Nyerges' legal fees— $2,500—or the movers would start taking away the bank's furniture and cash. The manager, after conferring with his superiors, gave the deputies a check.

Bank of America later apologized to the Nyerges in writing--but managed to misspell their name.

Their attorney, Todd Allen of Conrad Willkomm, P.A., remains disgruntled: "Bank of America never apologized for having tried to foreclose, only for not paying the money in time."

As to how the situation arose in the first place, Allen says the home's prior owner had defaulted, and that BofA had taken back the house. "My clients purchased the property directly from Bank of America. If they [the bank] had taken 15 minutes to review their records on the property, they would have seen the details of the transaction." In his view the Nyerges' story is "symptomatic of a larger problem: banks just aren't doing their due diligence before they start foreclosings."

His clients, he says, are "ecstatic--but drained emotionally. It's scary to have your home foreclosed on when you've paid cash for it."

Bauwens of Bank of America acknowledges a mistake was made: "Basically, we're truly sorry for the series of unfortunate circumstances that Mr. Nyerges experienced. He received a judgment—and rightly so. On Friday, that judgment was paid."

Still, she says of the incident, "It's not good for business."

Okay, then; on to Riverdale, Georgia, where a Bank of America branch manager is facing jail for contempt of court. "We are in conversations with the City of Riverdale to resolve this matter," says Bauwens, "and hope to do so."

In dispute here is who owns an abandoned home that has become, in the words of Dr. Evelyn Wynn Dixon, Riverdale's mayor, not just an eyesore but a safety hazard. "It needs to be demolished," she says. "It should have been torn down two years ago."