Some services express regrets over foreclosure issues, others defend status

Mortgage servicers rushed to defend their platforms Thursday after federal regulators sent consent orders to 14 companies saying they would need to revamp their foreclosure processing procedures. MetLife Inc. (MET) said meeting all applicable decrees continues to be a focus of the company, but added that MetLife Bank services only one percent of the U.S. home mortgage market and “has not experienced the high volume of foreclosures that many servicers have experienced.” The bank added that “MetLife Bank has never issued and does not own nontraditional mortgage products such as pay-option ARMs and subprime loans, which have the highest rate of default.” Ally Financial Inc. (GJM) said it “deeply regrets” an error uncovered in the firm’s processing of certain foreclosure affidavits, according to a statement from the lender. The Detroit-based financial services firm made that statement after it signed a consent order from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. instructing mortgage servicers to review and revamp foreclosure processes. To comply with the order, Ally has put together an internal team of executives from its various divisions GMAC Mortgage, Ally Financial and Ally Bank to oversee the implementation of the order. In response to issues related to the processing of foreclosure affidavits, Ally said it has “acted with urgency and rigor in addressing and remediating the issue. Through our review to date, Ally has not found any instance where a homeowner was foreclosed upon without being in significant default.” The company added that “GMAC has substantially upgraded its operations over the past two years” and now has a Tier 1 servicer rating from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bank said it completed 610,000 loan workouts in the past three years. Write to Kerri Panchuk.

Most Popular Articles

3d rendering of a row of luxury townhouses along a street

Log In

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account? Please