The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has announced that EverBank has agreed to pay approximately $37 million in cash payments to more than 32,000 eligible mortgage borrowers. Borrowers whose homes were in any stage of foreclosure in 2009 and 2010 with EverBank will receive cash compensation. Payments will range from $1,050 to $125,000 plus equity, where appropriate. Eligible borrowers will be contacted directly by a third-party paying agent. Eligible borrowers will receive compensation whether or not they filed a request for review form, and borrowers do not need to take further action to be eligible for compensation. Additional information about payments to eligible borrowers will be announced in the near future.
EverBank was subject to a cease and desist order for unsafe and unsound practices in mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing. EverBank will consent to an amendment to the order, which will effectively end the Independent Foreclosure Review process for EverBank and its customers required by the order.
In addition to money paid by EverBank directly to eligible customers, EverBank will pay approximately $6.3 million to organizations certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 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. EverBank also will evaluate each eligible borrower still in the process of foreclosure for a new loan modification, where investor contracts allow, and will establish a special complaint process to resolve borrower complaints regarding credit report errors.
Previously, the OCC and the Federal Reserve entered into amendments to orders with Aurora Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, GMAC Mortgage, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.
As is the case with the previous amended orders, borrowers who accept a payment will not be prevented from taking any action related to their foreclosure. Servicers are not permitted to ask borrowers to sign a waiver of any legal claims they may have against their servicer in connection with accepting these payments.
OCC examiners continue to monitor the servicers' efforts to correct the unsafe or unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices as required by the orders previously issued against the servicers.
