Are You One of 65,000 Ohioans Eligible for Mortgage Settlement Funds?
In a recent news release, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that nearly 65,000 Ohio residents who lost their homes to foreclosure in the past three years may be eligible for payment under the $25 billion National Mortgage Foreclosure settlement.
Claim forms are being sent to eligible borrowers who had mortgages with Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers who agreed to the settlement with the federal government and attorneys general for 49 states and the District of Columbia. The settlement, which took affect in April, earmarks $1.5 billion in payments for 1.75 million borrowers nationally who lost their home to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011. The payments will be at least $840, and will very likely be higher, depending upon the number of borrowers who decide to participate.
Borrowers must return the claim form by Jan. 18, 2013 to receive payment. The form can returned in the envelope provided, or a claim can be filed online at www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com. Last week a national settlement administrator mailed notification postcards to the eligible borrowers nationwide. In Ohio, packets containing a letter from the Attorney General, claim forms, instructions and other explanatory information are being sent to eligible borrowers through Oct. 12.
According to DeWine:
- This payment is intended as partial compensation for the illegal conduct of the mortgage servicers.
- Borrowers don’t have to give up their legal rights to participate.
- They are free to participate in this settlement and also pursue other legal remedies for the loss of their home if they choose.
- The national settlement followed state and federal investigations, which claimed that the five companies routinely signed foreclosure-related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without personal knowledge of the facts contained in the documents were correct.
- They also claimed that the mortgage servicers (robo signers) committed various errors and abuses in their mortgage processes.
More information for Ohio homeowners still struggling to make mortgage payments can be found at “Save the Dream“.
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