Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and his New York counterpart Letitia James have joined with 49 other attorneys general and other federal and state agencies to announce an $86.3 million settlement with the mortgage servicing company Nationstar Mortgage, which conducts business under the “Mr. Cooper” brand.
Nationstar is the nation”™s fourth-largest mortgage servicer, and the settlement covers problems in the Dallas-headquartered company”™s servicing of residential mortgages between Jan. 1, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2017. Nationstar was accused of violating consumer protection laws, ranging from the improper transfer of mortgage loans, repeated failures in applying borrower payments and loan modification application processing, and ignoring borrower complaints. The agreement provides $79.2 million in restitution to 55,814 borrowers.
For Connecticut, the settlement impacts 685 loans and the state will receive a total of $1.06 million plus $250,000 to support additional consumer protection efforts. In New York, 2,363 borrowers will receive more than $4.5 million, either as a credit to their account if Nationstar is still their servicer or as a check.
“This settlement requires direct payments to Connecticut borrowers who suffered grave financial strain as a result of Nationstar”™s unacceptable misconduct,” Tong said. “Nationstar grossly mishandled thousands of loans across the country ”“ in the worst of cases needlessly driving certain families into preventable foreclosure. As part of this settlement, Nationstar must abide by strict servicing standards above and beyond current laws and regulations for the next three years.”
“Far too often, corporate greed has been a barrier to millions of families trying to attain the American Dream of homeownership,” James said. “Our work on this case will directly help thousands of New York homeowners and hold Nationstar mortgages servicer accountable for putting profits over people.”
Oh gee, for a second I thought these 2 might have actually done something but then I realized it was a national settlement that these 2 had little to do with. Both offices could withstand major budget reductions.