An article in the Huffington Post examines the lack of progress made by banks in implementing their recent settlement with the attorneys general regarding mortgage servicing failures. The article points out that banks are touting their success with setting up "single points of contact" for all borrowers as required by the settlement. However, housing advocates, including SILS attorney Joseph Sant, who is quoted in the piece, question whether the settlement has truly caused banks to reform the way they treat borrowers.
From the article:
Joseph Sant, an attorney on New York's Staten Island, reported less positive results. One of his clients, Jihyun Lyo, has tried for three years to finalize a trial loan modification under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program.
"Her single point of contact has been particularly unhelpful," Sant said in an email. Sant noted that simply establishing a single individual to handle a borrower's file doesn't ensure good service.
"What Ms. Lyo has seen, instead, is that her single point of contact is just a focal point for the same illogical, arbitrary servicing behavior we have seen for years. While the contact on her case has a professional attitude, Bank of America gives the contact so little information, access, and discretion that is impossible for him to be helpful," he said.
"Her case is not isolated and illustrates Bank of America's lack of progress in implementing the settlement."
Read the whole article at The Huffington Post.