A consumer advocacy group is accusing the nation's major banks of failing to live up to their responsibilities under the National Mortgage Settlement.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) is charging banks with a continuation of dual-tracking procedures and failing to provide effective single-point-of-contact connections with homeowners. The CRC also alleges that banks have violated consumer-protection provisions in the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which went into effect at the beginning of this year.
‘Servicers continue to harm California families and neighborhoods,’ says Kevin Stein, the CRC's associate director. ‘Regulators need to hold servicers accountable for these violations, strengthen rules to protect disadvantaged communities and require banks to be transparent about which borrowers and neighborhoods are receiving foreclosure prevention assistance.’
The CRC based its findings on interviews with 84 housing counselors and lawyers. However, John Mechem, vice president of communications for the Mortgage Bankers Association, questioned the CRC's allegations.
‘This report is based on a small sample of non-verified anecdotal information and is not representative of the servicing environment where more than 5 million homeowners have received a loan modification in the last five years,’ Mechem says.
