Many homeowners missing opportunity to have foreclosures reviewed

According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, many homeowners who are eligible to have their foreclosure cases reviewed are not taking advantage of the opportunity. The review process could potentially result in homeowners being awarded restitution for errors committed on behalf of lenders.

Homeowners qualifying for the free review were first notified by mail late last year. At the end of April, only about 4 percent of the 4.1 million who received letters applied to have their foreclosures reviewed. Because of the poor turnout, officials are planning to send out another round of mailings in early June, reminding homeowners of the July 31 deadline.

This is definitely an opportunity worth pursuing as the restitution could be anywhere between a few hundred dollars to more than $100,000, USA Today reported. In order to qualify for the free review, homeowners must have had?a?mortgage on a primary residence in?the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010.

Additionally, the mortgage must have been serviced by one of the 14 lenders who agreed to the reviews or one of their affiliates. This agreement was part of a settlement made last year between 14 major mortgage servicers and federal banking regulators. It is separate from the $25 billion settlement reached by state and federal officials in February.

The 14 lenders that have agreed to the reviews include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo.

The case-by-case reviews will be conducted by independent consultants hired by the lenders and supervised by regulators. Consumer advocates say that so few homeowners have responded to the opportunity for reviews because they fear it's a scam or overlook it as junk mail.

More information on the foreclosure review opportunity can be found at independentforeclosurereview.com or by consulting an experienced foreclosure defense attorney in your area.

Source: USA Today, "Many eligible borrowers passing up foreclosure reviews," Julie Schmidt, May 21, 2012

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