Major Mortgage Servicers to Lose Government Financial Incentives

By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter.

The Treasury Department said it would withhold financial incentives for mortgage service providers Bank of America, NA, J.P Morgan Chase Bank, NA, and Wells Fargo Bank, NA, due to their poor performance in the administration’s Making Home Affordable Program.

The three servicers were found to be in need of “substantial improvement” in their mortgage servicing processes. “We need servicers to step up their performance to meet the needs of those still struggling,” said acting Treasury Assistant for Financial Stability Tim Massad.

An additional mortgage servicer, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, was also identified as needing substantial improvement in its processes. However, the Treasury said it would not withhold financial incentives to the firm at this time as their compliance results were substantially impacted by a large servicing portfolio acquired during the testing period.

Starting this month, the administration has begun to provide detailed assessments of the 10 largest mortgage service providers participating in the program. In addition to providing greater transparency about servicer performance, the new assessments are intended to prompt servicers to correct identified deficiencies.