WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following was issued by the Federal Reserve
Thursday afternoon:

Borrowers seeking a review of their mortgage foreclosures under the
federal banking agencies’ Independent Foreclosure Review now have until
December 31, 2012, to submit their requests.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) today
announced that the deadline for submitting requests for review under the
Independent Foreclosure Review has been extended. The new deadline
provides additional time for borrowers to request a review if they
believe they suffered financial injury as a result of errors in
foreclosure actions on their homes in 2009 or 2010 by one of the
servicers covered by enforcement actions issued in April 2011.

The deadline extension provides more time to increase awareness
about the Independent Foreclosure Review and how eligible borrowers may
request a review, and to encourage the broadest participation possible.
The agencies will work with the servicers to expand their outreach and
marketing efforts through the end of the year to encourage as much
participation as possible.

As part of enforcement actions issued in April 2011, the agencies
required 14 large mortgage servicers to retain independent consultants
to conduct a comprehensive review of foreclosure activity in 2009 and
2010 to identify borrowers who may have been financially injured due to
errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies in the foreclosure
process. If the review finds that financial injury occurred, the
borrower may receive remediation such as lump-sum payments, suspension
or rescission of a foreclosure, a loan modification or other loss
mitigation assistance, correction of credit reports, or correction of
deficiency amounts and records. Lump-sum payments can range from $500
to, in the most egregious cases, $125,000 plus equity, according to
guidance issued by the agencies.

Requesting a review does not preclude borrowers from taking other
actions related to their foreclosures. A servicer is not permitted to
require a borrower to sign a waiver of the borrower’s ability to pursue
claims against the servicer in order to receive compensation under the
Independent Foreclosure Review.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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