Senate Banking Committee to Grill Mortgage Servicers on Foreclosure Practices in November

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has announced that the Committee will hold a hearing, "Investigating Mortgage Servicing and Foreclosure Practices," on Tuesday, Nov. 16, to investigate allegations of improper and fraudulent mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing. Sen. Dodd's announcement comes amidst a time when the mortgage servicing industry is under heavy scrutiny for their "robo-signing" tactics where company reps would sign off on thousands of documents daily without proper review.  “American families should not have to worry about losing their homes to sloppy bureaucratic mismanagement or fraud,” said Sen. Dodd. “I am deeply troubled by recent revelations and allegations of practices by some of the nation’s largest lenders. Regulators at the federal, state, and local levels have a responsibility to uphold the law and protect consumers from unfair foreclosure, and lenders have a duty to not cut corners around the law.” Nationwide, state attorneys general have lashed out at some of the mortgage industry's largest servicers over the past week, including GMAC Mortgage/Ally Financial Inc., JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.  The hearing, "Investigating Mortgage Servicing and Foreclosure Practices," will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the Banking Committee Hearing Room, Room 538 at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The Nov. 16 hearing will be Webcast live at http://banking.senate.gov.