POSSIBLE COMPENSATION FOR LENDER FORECLOSURE ERROR?: In an advertisement published in major newspapers across the country over the weekend, the Federal Reserve and Office of the Controller of the Currency (who regulates nationally chartered banks) list a number of lenders and servicing institutions who may have made errors in foreclosing on many homes nationally. The list of lenders is as follows: America's Servicing Co.; EMC; PNC Mortgage; Aurora Loan Services; EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Co,; Sovereign Bank; BAC Home Loans Servicing; Financial Freedom; SunTrust Mortgage; Beneficial; GMAC Mortgage; US Bank; Chase; HFC; Wachovia Mortgage; Citibank; HSBC; Washington Mutual (WaMu); CitiFinancial; IndyMac Mortgage Services; CitiMortgage; MetLife Bank; Wells Fargo Bank, NA; Countrywide; Nagtional City Mortgage; and Wilshire Credit Corporation. If, according to the ad, you feel there were errors made in or related to a foreclosure that cost you money, you can request a free review of your foreclosure by a neutral party, and you MAY get compensation for these errors. Compensation could be up to a maximum of $125,000 PLUS equity. Call (855) 778-0855 or go online: occ.gov/independentforeclosurereview or federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm . Sounds like a good thing for possible help if you were victimized by erroneous foreclosure action. Good luck.

BofA Paying It's Share!: In an announcement today, Bank of America has confirmed that it has already completed or approved for processing $15.8 Billion in consumer relief for 164,000 homeowners under its agreement in the recent mortgage settlement agreement it participated in. This is as of September 30. One form is forgiveness of first liens in the amount of $4.75 Billion in principal forgiveness offered to 30,000 borrowers. The bank has also provided short sale or deed in lieu settlements to an additional 62,000 borrowers. As far as second line borrowers, they have also been helped by BofA. In an other form of relief, the bank has provided interest rate relief to another 1,000 borrowers. If you're a BofA borrower, hopefully you've already been in one of these groups. If you are with BofA and haven't yet been offered any relief under the settlement, you should get in touch with BofA now to see what their plans are for you, and if your obligation is included in their relief activities. As always, Good Luck.

Is Your Loan LIBOR Pegged? Five Alabama homeowners have filed suit against a large group of lenders, BofA, Barclays and Citibank chief among them, for allegedly rigging the LIBOR rates that their mortgage loans are pegged to. The basis for their claims is simply that, if proven, the alleged rigging of the rates on their loans cost them a great deal more money than they otherwise would have had to pay without rigged interest rates. Who's right? Were their rates rigged? Those answers will have to wait for a court trial. However, if your loan is LIBOR-based and provided by one of the named lenders, you may want to have someone such as a lawyer and/or accountant review your loan documents and then compare them to the LIBOR rates that existed at the time of your loan. For that, you may also need to enlist the help of a banker from one of the large banks NOT named in the suit. Aside from extra costs, such a rigging could conceivably contribute to a foreclosure if the increased rigged cost made it difficult or impossible for you to pay your mortgage. Hoping you aren't a victim, Good Luck in your investigation.

BofA FORGIVENESS: Bank of America, BofA, has announced that it is sending letters to 130,000 second mortgage customers across the country that it is outright forgiving their second mortgages to BofA. Saying that the recipients of these notifications, must achieve a "specific threshold" level of delinquency, without publicly defining what that level may be, the bank noted a borrower cannot volunteer for the forgiveness program. BofA determines who benefits and will receive the notices. They also note that being the lucky recipient of this notice won't also forgive a delinquency or pending foreclosure from a separate first mortgage held by BofA. A further note: if you are lucky enough to receive one of these forgiveness letters, you may still be liable for federal and/or state income taxes on the amount of the loan that is being forgiven. Check with your accountant for advice in this regard. How do you know if you're getting a notice? Wait for it to arrive, or, initiate action yourself by calling BofA and seeing if: a.) they will tell you directly before any letter is sent; and b.) if, given their willingnes to supply information, you are one of the lucky intended recipients. As always, Good Luck.

More Good News in California: Jerry Brown has completed the Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation. When passed, a total of six bills made up the legislation helping homeowners to keep their homes. He initially signed three into law, and yesterday signed the remaining three. For detailed info on how these can help you, contact either the Governor's office or the Attorney General's. As always, good luck.

A LITTLE HELP IF YOU'RE DISABLED & DEALING W/BANK OF AMERICA: If you're dealing with Bank of America and are disabled and using your disability funds for your loans, you may have had some issues with the way BofA works with this. Now, as a result of a lawsuit and subsequent settlement between BofA and the Justice Department, BofA has settled the DOJ suit without litigation. Accused of violating Fair Housing and Equal Credit Opportunity Acts, BofA was accused of requiring disabled mortgage loan applicants to get letters from their doctors documenting the borrowers' disability income amounts. In some cases the bank was accused of going beyond that by inquiring into the details of the borrowers' medical situations. In addition to paying a total of $125,000 to the three original litigants, the bank will also pay anywhere from $1-5,000 to every other loan applicant found to have been subjected to this process. They are also hiring a special third party administrator to review about 25,000 applications from people with SSDI benefits who may have been affected to help determine eligibility. If you're in this class of borrowers with BofA, good luck and hope this makes it a bit easier for you.

Foreclosure Agreement May Expand: You probably recall that a few months ago, the Attorneys General of 49 states reached a historic agreement with the five largest mortgage lending institutions (JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Ally Financial [formerly known as GMAC] to try to allay at least some of the damage caused by such actions as robosigning and other improper practices by the foreclosing institutions and their representatives. Well, the same attorneys general are pushing another four major mortgage lenders to agree to the terms of the agreement. While these lenders are not of the same magnitude as the original five, they still do have a sizable portfolio of mortgages and related foreclosures/defaulted properties. The lenders in this latest action are reported to be: US Bancorp; PNC Financial Services Group; Sun Trust Banks and HSBC Holdings. The reported negotiations with the newest four lenders are unconfirmed as talks are 'private'. However, it's a reasonable bet that the identities are correct as the names wouldn't likely be reported if someone close to the negotiations hadn't leaked some info on them. What to do if you're mortgaged with any of these lenders or have lost your home to one of them. Pay close attention to the news for more info and check regularly with your state attorney general for any additional confirmation or info. As always, Good Luck.