Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Payments in Bank Foreclosure Abuse Settlement Begin Friday
By Sarah Pierce
Update 4/17/13: The Settlement Administrator has confirmed that some early payment recipients have experienced problems cashing their checks. This issue will be resolved shortly.
Starting Friday, more than 4 million homeowners who faced foreclosure in 2009 and 2010 will begin receiving payments from the $9.3 billion bank foreclosure abuse settlement announced last month by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve.
Under the settlement, $3.6 billion will go to affected homeowners in the form of a cash check. The remaining settlement funds will go to struggling borrowers in the form of assistance, including loan modification and forgiveness.
According to a chart released yesterday, payments from the bank foreclosure abuse settlement will range from $300 to $125,000 – the maximum amount allowed under the settlement terms. The payments will come in multiple waves, beginning April 12, with the majority of affected borrowers receiving their payments by the end of the month. The final wave is expected to commence mid-July 2013.
The settlement is part of an investigation by the OCC and Federal Reserve into allegations that 13 banks engaged in improper foreclosure methods in 2009 and 2010.
The banks — Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo – are accused of wrongfully denying loan modifications, charging improper fees, robo-signing documents, and more.
Eligible borrowers do not need to do anything to receive a payment under the bank foreclosure settlement. Checks will automatically be mailed from Settlement Administrator Rust Consulting. Rust has already sent postcards to the 4.2 million borrowers notifying them of their eligibility to receive payment under the agreement.
Borrowers can call Rust at 1-888-952-9105 to update their contact information or to verify that they are covered by the agreement. Borrowers are warned to beware of scams and anyone asking them to call a different number or to pay a fee to receive payment under the agreement.
Accepting payment does not prevent these borrowers from pursuing legal action related to their foreclosure.
Updated April 17th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
40 thoughts onPayments in Bank Foreclosure Abuse Settlement Begin Friday
Congrats, Amy. From what I have read, this is not the first time this has happened with Rust. However, it seems to be fixed now, but I would still give it a week or two before you start spending the money. Supposedly, they neglected to transfer the money into the correct bank account, which isn’t surprising considering how they have bungled so many things.
“Amy, it won’t. This is a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff blush.”
That doesn’t even make sense and is only inflammatory.
I have not heard of anyone who has gotten a check certified mail. Maybe they will for the really huge checks.
Penny, I think you are confusing this settlement with the National Mortgage one. There are two settlements out there. The Independent Foreclosure Review (this one) up until the end of this year gave people the option of requesting a review of their foreclosure. A lot of people didn’t even get notice of that option since Rust sent the notices to the “foreclosed” address and since after you are foreclosed on, you have to move, that was kind of stupid and one of their many blunders. They probably did it on purpose in the hopes of lessening response. After a year and a half of trying to do the reviews, they felt it was too expensive and time-consuming (I think they found too much liability for themselves and are looking to cut their losses and are doing this to avoid transparency) so they worked out a deal to give everyone a part of the settlement whose homes had been in the foreclosure process during I think 2008 and 2010 with one of the specified banks. If Rust doesn’t have you on file, you might not qualify for this settlement, but you might qualify for the other one. It will take a little research on your part. This site (topclassactions.com) is just an informational site, so you can’t hold them accountable for your filing anything. You can’t file anything on this site anyway — you can find links that will take you to the appropriate site to file, but TopClassAction is for information only.
Are these checks coming certified mail?
Amy, it won’t. This is a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff blush.
I received a check today for $3000, deposited it my bank account. hopefully will clear.
“We apologize to anyone who experienced problems trying to cash their checks. We are working hard and communicating with the banking regulators, the servicers, and other banks to ensure those issues are not repeated,” Rust Consulting Senior Vice President James Parks said. “We want to assure the public that checks we have mailed under the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement process are valid.”
Writing back checks is a FELONY. James Parks should be arrested. How incompetent are these people? This needs to be on 60 Minutes.
I filed for this settlement through this web site. 4 months approx. later I received a letter from the attorney general’s office telling me all about the settlement, and requesting that we send in our info. and apply for the settlement. We had moved to WV they had no problem locating me. I immediately called the atty general’s office in Phoenix. Spoke to a woman there she confirmed they had received our paperwork about Oct 12, 2012. She said nothing else was to be done at this time. So I heard nothing until coming here and seeing the notice that checks went out 3/18 We received nothing!. I called the atty general’s office they referred me to the office handling the settlement. They have nothing on us, the property address, loan acct #, its like we don’t exsist. I called Wells Fargo, they didn’t have the date of foreclosure, but did have the acct. # (BIG DEAL). I can get no help from anyone at this point! The atty general of AZ, Wells Fargo, Rust consulting,
I need to find out what’s happened here!
Patricia A. Hall
Supposedly the problem with the bad checks were with people who tried to cash their checks as opposed to depositing them in their bank accounts. Not everyone has a bank account… But considering their arrogance, I doubt this crossed their minds. They’ve bungled this since day one. If you recall, the first round of postcards asking people if they wanted a review was sent to the foreclosed addresses. If the home was foreclosed on, the victim didn’t live there anymore. Duh.