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Updated on August 4, 2016
The OCC is directing escheatment of approximately $280 million in funds remaining from uncashed IFR Payment Agreement payments so eligible borrowers and their heirs may claim the funds through state escheatment processes. Escheatment provides the greatest opportunity for eligible people to claim the funds through long-established state processes.
Each state has different timelines, but it may be six months or more before the state is able to provide payments under their respective unclaimed property processes. Eligible borrowers should refer to their state for details related to the state's escheatment process to claim their funds.
States and provinces act as the custodians of property until owners claim it. In most cases, states do not charge a fee for claiming unclaimed property. Some people and companies, known as heir finders or locators will try to charge up to 50 percent for helping people claim funds. Rather than pay service providers, the OCC encourages individuals to check for unclaimed property and funds using MissingMoney.com for participating states (which includes all states except Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, and Wyoming) and work directly with their state or province. For more information see:
It varies by state, and state treasurers and other officials who administer unclaimed property programs are better positioned to describe that process. States have returned almost $2 billion dollars to people annually.
There is no time limit within which eligible individuals must request unclaimed funds under the states' unclaimed funds processes.
The orders issued by OCC on 6/17/15 provides direction about what should happen to uncashed checks in the Independent Foreclosure Review. The OCC has directed that the payment agent escheat checks which have not been cashed by the end of 2015.
Escheatment means that the payment agent will transfer funds related to uncashed check to state unclaimed property divisions. There is generally a delay between the transfer of funds to a state unclaimed property division and when you are able to claim those funds. The length of the delay varies from state to state. Unclaimed property divisions also generally require that you prove your identify before reissuing a payment to you.
The payment agent will escheat your payment to the state matching the last known address that the payment agent has on file. If Rust is your paying agent, to confirm which state your payment will be sent to at the end of 2015 or to provide Rust with an updated address, please call 1-888-952-9105. If Epiq is your paying agent (for EverBank borrowers), to confirm which state your payment will be sent to at the end of 2015 or to provide Epiq with an updated address, please call 1-877-819-9754.
The purpose of the business restrictions is to focus the banks' resources on the corrective requirements of the consent orders that they have not yet completed.
No. The restrictions will not impede mortgage financing and origination and will not restrict consumer access to mortgages.
Checks issued as part of the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement expire 90 days after they are issued as a means to limit fraud. If your check has expired, please contact the paying agent, Rust Consulting, at 1-888-952-9105, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET or Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET. The last day to request a check reissuance is June 19, 2015.
Thirteen mortgage servicing companies subject to enforcement actions for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing have reached an agreement in principle with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to provide more than $9.3 billion in cash payments and other assistance to help borrowers. The sum includes $3.6 billion in direct cash payments to eligible borrowers and $5.7 billion in other foreclosure prevention assistance, such as loan modifications and forgiveness of deficiency judgments. The servicers participating in the settlement includes Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.
For the participating servicers listed above, fulfillment of the agreement would satisfy the foreclosure review requirements of enforcement actions issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of Thrift Supervision in April and September 2011. As a result of this agreement, the participating servicers would cease the Independent Foreclosure Review, which involved case-by-case reviews, and replace it with a broader framework allowing all of the Independent Foreclosure Review eligible borrowers of the participating servicers to receive compensation significantly more quickly. The Independent Foreclosure Review Process continues for the servicers that did not enter into the settlement. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System continue to closely monitor the servicers' implementation of all corrective actions related to unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices required by the enforcement actions issued in April 2011.
In July 2013, GMAC Mortgage also reached an agreement with the Federal Reserve Board that ended the Independent Foreclosure Review. The Agreement reached in July with GMAC Mortgage added more than 232,000 borrowers and required approximately $230 million in direct cash payments to those borrowers.
In August, EverBank agreed to pay approximately $37 million to more than 32,000 eligible borrowers and $6.3 million to HUD-certified organizations or other tax-exempt organizations that have as a principal mission providing affordable housing, foreclosure prevention and/or educational assistance to low- and moderate-income individuals and families. Recipient organizations shall be approved by the OCC. View FAQs regarding the EverBank agreement.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System have reached an agreement in principle with the participating servicers. This agreement will be memorialized into amended consent orders for each of the participating servicers. The amended consent orders will be made publicly available the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's website, www.occ.gov, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's Website, www.federalreserve.gov once they are finalized.
You can find the joint press release the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued regarding the Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement here.
The servicers participating in the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement include: Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo (collectively the "participating servicers"). In July 2013, GMAC Mortgage also reached an agreement with the Federal Reserve Board and in August EverBank reached agreement with the OCC that ended the Independent Foreclosure Review for those servicers.
The servicer not participating in the Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement is OneWest. The independent consultant retained by OneWest completed their review and remediation checks have been issued to those borrowers where financial injury was identified.
Nearly 4.2 million eligible borrowers will receive cash payment as a result of the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement.
Yes. Under the terms of the settlement, mortgage loan file reviews being conducted by each of the independent consultants for the participating servicers will stop, except in very limited circumstances. The Independent Foreclosure Review continued for OneWest and the independent consultant retained by OneWest completed their review and remediation checks have been issued to those borrowers where financial injury was identified.
No. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors entered into the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement to redirect efforts to compensate Independent Foreclosure Review eligible borrowers as quickly as possible. The Independent Foreclosure Review settlement ensures that more borrowers will receive monetary compensation more quickly.
Borrowers whose primary residence was in foreclosure between the dates of January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, with one of the participating servicers will receive a cash payment under the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement. The participating servicers are: Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, EverBank, GMAC Mortgage, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, US Bank, and Wells Fargo or their affiliated mortgage companies.
All eligible borrowers of the participating servicers will receive compensation under the settlement, regardless of whether a borrower submitted a request for review form. Borrowers will be contacted with additional details by the end of March 2013. No further action on the part of the borrower needs to be taken to receive payment.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System are in the process of determining compensation amounts. After the compensation amounts have been determined, the agencies will make information about the distribution plan publicly available. Please continue to regularly check the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Website, www.occ.gov, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's Website, www.federalreserve.gov, for additional details regarding compensation amounts.
No. Receiving a payment as a result of the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement will not prevent you from taking any action you may wish to pursue related to your foreclosure. Borrowers will not be required to execute a waiver of any legal claims they may have against their servicer as a condition for receiving payment.
No. A paying agent will administer cash payments to eligible borrowers on behalf of the participating servicers. No further action on the part of the borrower needs to be taken to receive payment. The paying agent will contact eligible borrowers with more details by March 31, 2013.
You can verify that you are an eligible borrower by contacting RUST, the Independent Foreclosure Review Administrator, at 1 (888) 952-9105, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET or Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET.
You can contact RUST, the Independent Foreclosure Review Administrator, at 1-888-952-9105, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET or Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET to provide your updated contact information.
No. The payment amount is final, and there is no appeal process of the compensation payment amounts distributed to you as a result of the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement. However, receiving a payment as a result of the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement will not prevent you from taking any action you may wish to pursue related to your foreclosure.
No. The Independent Foreclosure Review settlement will not affect, stop, or delay your pending foreclosure sale date. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System encourage you to continue to work directly with your servicer. The Independent Foreclosure Review settlement will not affect any other efforts you are making with your servicer to prevent a foreclosure sale, and it is not intended to replace your current active efforts with your mortgage loan servicer.
The Independent Foreclosure Review settlement will not affect any options you may be pursuing with your servicer. The Independent Foreclosure Review settlement is not intended to replace your current active efforts with your servicer.
RUST Consulting, as the Independent Foreclosure Review Administrator responsible for processing the submission of request for review forms, will not destroy any information you submitted nor will they return the information you submitted to you. Any information that you previously submitted will be handled according to the Independent Foreclosure Review Privacy Policy posted here. The handling of all Independent Foreclosure Review information is also subject to the direction of the federal regulators.
Any payments received as a result of the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement may affect your taxes or public assistance benefits. If you have questions about the impact of this payment on your tax liabilities or public assistance benefits, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of the Governors of the Federal Reserve System encourages you to consult a qualified tax advisor, individual or organization prior to cashing the check that you receive.
All eligible servicemembers whose mortgage loan was serviced by one of the Participating servicers will be included under the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement even if a request for review form was not submitted by the December 31, 2012 deadline.
In order to be eligible, your primary residence needed to have been in any stage of the foreclosure process at any time between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, with one of the participating servicers. If you believe you meet these eligibility requirements, contact Rust Consulting, who can check your eligibility status against their records, at 1-888-952-9105. If your servicer is supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Rust has told you that you are not eligible, you may contact the OCC Customer Assistance Group at https://www.helpwithmybank.gov.
The servicers participating in the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement, that are regulated by the OCC include:
If your servicer is supervised by the Federal Reserve—Goldman Sachs (Litton Loan Servicing LP), GMAC Mortgage, Morgan Stanley (Saxon Mortgage), SunTrust, HSBC (HBIO), or JPMC (EMC)—and Rust has told you that you are not eligible, you may contact the Federal Reserve's Consumer Help Line.
Correcting Foreclosure Practices
OCC's Escheatment and the Federal Reserves' Redistribution
