Payments From Citi

Gee!After all this time without posting any new info, we've got two in two days. Like yesterday's posting, today's announces expected large payment sums from Citi. Yesterday's had the cash coming from Chase. Today's announcement is from Citi to the effect that they're preparing to make a total of $20 million in payments to homeowners who were previously 'overlooked' when 2013's lender settlement-based payments were passed out. How you can 'overlook' $20 million in obligations I don't know, but I guess when your overall obligations top the hundreds of billions, the number $20 million becomes so relatively small that overlooking it is a possibility. Anyway, to get right to the point, Citi is making payments to its present and former mortgage customers of between a few hundred Dollars and $125,000 per borrower. No, you don't get o choose the size of your award--that's based upon exactly what violation was involved in the individual case. Mark Rodgers of Citibank is overseeing the payments. So, two bits of advice here: 1.) if your mortgage was/is with citi, you may want to contact the bank to see if you're on the payment list; and 2.) try directing your call to Rodgers to get immediate attention and deal with someone who is supposed to be aware of the facts in all cases. Hey, you could do worse than calling him. As always, Good Luck!

Chase Settles w/Dept. of Justice

Well, it's been several months since our last item. Not much of interest has happened and I was hospitalized for two months in the fall. Moving forward, now and all is OK! JUst late yesterday, Chase and the DOJ announced a settlement by the bank of $50 million over a wide array of violations in robo-signing and other areas. The proposed settlements will include a mixture of cash payments, loan credits and mortgage loan forgiveness for borrowers in bankruptcy. Equally importsnt, an independent reviewer will keeps regular tabs on Chase to insure the institution's ongoing compliance with settlement terms. The settlement is subject to court approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Michigan. As part of the settlement, Chase admitted filing over 50,000 improper robo-signed change of payment notices. Justice's representative, Acting Asst. Atty. General Stuart Delery was quoted as stating, "It is shocking that the conduct admitted to by Chase in this settlement, including the filing of tens of thousands of documents in court that never had been reviewed by the people who attested to their accuracy, continued as long as it did, Such unlawful and abusive banking practices can deprive American homeowners of a fair chance in the bankruptcy system, and we will not tolerate them." Chase's payments, credits, and contributions which total more than $50 million will include: $22.4 million in credits and second lien forgiveness to approximately 400 homeowners who received inaccurate notices of payment increase while they were in bankruptcy; $10.8 million through credits or refunds for payment increases or decreases that were not filed in a timely manner or noticed to more than 12,000 homeowners in bankruptcy ; $4.8 million to more than 18,000 homeowners who did not receive accurate or timely escrow statements; $4.9 million (approximately $600 per loan) to more than 8,000 homeowners whose escrow payments were not applied in a manner consistent with escrow payments Chase provided; and contributing $7.5 million to the American Bankruptcy Institute's endowment for financial education and support for the Credit Abuse Resistance Education Program. The advice from here is that if you have or had a mortgage with Chase, call them immediaqtely to discover your status nder the settlement's terms. Failing thst, get it touch with the Department of Jutsice, or Amy Walsh of the law firm, Morvillo LLP, that is theplanned overseer of the settlement. As always, Good Luck.