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Independent Foreclosure Review Fact Sheet

Independent Foreclosure Reviews 

Fact Sheet 

What is happening? 

Fourteen U.S. mortgage servicers and their affiliates are making available free, 

impartial Independent Foreclosure Reviews to certain of their borrowers as 

part of the consent orders entered into with the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 

April 2011. 

If eligible borrowers believe that they were financially injured as a result of 

servicer errors, misrepresentations or other deficiencies in the foreclosure 

process on their primary residence, they can request a review of their 

foreclosure file to verify that their foreclosure process was handled properly. 

Throughout this process, servicers will continue their efforts to help 

homeowners who have not yet gone through a foreclosure sale stay in their 

homes, where possible.  

Who is eligible? 

Borrowers are eligible to submit a Request for Review if 1) their loan was 

serviced by one of the participating mortgage servicers, 2) their loan was active 

in the foreclosure process between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010, and 3) the 

property securing the loan was their primary residence.  

To participate in an official review, eligible borrowers must submit a completed 

Request for Review Form by April 30, 2012. 

Which servicers are being required to perform the reviews? 

The participating servicers are: 

•  America’s Servicing Company 
•  Aurora Loan Services 
•  BAC Home Loans Servicing 
•  Bank of America 
•  Countrywide 
•  EMC 
•  EverBank/Everhome Mortgage Company 
•  GMAC Mortgage 
•  HFC 
•  National City Mortgage 
•  PNC Mortgage 
•  Sovereign Bank 
•  SunTrust Mortgage 
•  U.S. Bank 
•  Beneficial 
•  Chase 
•  Citibank 
•  HSBC 
•  IndyMac Mortgage Services 
•  Wachovia 
•  Washington Mutual (WaMu) 
•  CitiFinancial 
•  MetLife Bank 
•  Wells Fargo 
•  CitiMortgage  
•  Wilshire Credit Corporation 

How can borrowers find out if they are eligible for a review? 

An estimated 4.5 million borrowers will be notified by a letter explaining the 

review process and a Request for Review Form. The mailings will be 

staggered—to better manage volumes—in stages beginning Nov. 1, 2011. 

Information also may be found at www.IndependentForeclosureReview.com.  

Borrowers who believe they may be eligible for a review who do not receive a 

mailing can call 1.888.952.9105 Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. 

ET and Saturday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET to determine if they are eligible. 

What does it mean that a borrower was active in the foreclosure process? 

Foreclosure actions include any of the following occurrences on a primary 

residence between the dates of Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010: 

 The property was sold due to a foreclosure judgment. 

 The mortgage loan was referred into the foreclosure process but was 

removed from the process because payments were brought up-to-date or 

the borrower entered a payment plan or modification program. 

 The mortgage loan was referred into the foreclosure process, but the 

home was sold or the borrower participated in a short sale or chose a 

deed-in-lieu or other program to avoid foreclosure.  

 The mortgage loan was referred into the foreclosure process and remains 

delinquent but the foreclosure sale has not yet taken place. 

What information will borrowers need to provide? 

Borrowers will be asked to provide information on the property, the borrower 

and any co-borrowers, and details about how they believe they may have been 

financially injured. There is no charge to eligible borrowers for a review, which 

will not be reported to any of the credit bureaus and will not impact any other 

options a borrower may pursue related to their foreclosure. 

What constitutes “financial injury?” 

Listed below are examples of situations that may have led to financial injury. 

This list does not include all situations. 

 The mortgage balance amount at the time of the foreclosure action was 

more than you actually owed. 

 You were doing everything the modification agreement required, but the 

foreclosure sale still happened. 

 The foreclosure action occurred while you were protected by bankruptcy. 

 You requested assistance/modification, submitted complete documents 

on time, and were waiting for a decision when the foreclosure sale 

occurred. 

 Fees charged or mortgage payments were inaccurately calculated, 

processed, or applied. 

 The foreclosure action occurred on a mortgage that was obtained before 

active duty military service began and while on active duty, or within 9 

months after the active duty ended and the servicemember did not waive 

his/her rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. 

How long will the foreclosure review take to complete? 

The borrower will be sent an acknowledgement letter from the Independent 

Review Administrator within one week after the request is received.  Because 

the review process will be a thorough and complete examination of many 

details and documents, a review could take up to several months. 

Who will be conducting the reviews? 

Foreclosure Reviews will be conducted by independent consultants engaged by 

the servicers and approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  In order to ensure 

that the request for review process is as consistent as possible for eligible 

customers, all of the participating servicers are using the same outside 

administrator to manage the handling of incoming complaints for the Request 

for Review process.  

Once the Request for Review Forms have been collected by this single vendor, 

the servicer will provide relevant documents to the independent consultant. 

The servicer will also provide any findings and recommendations related to the 

borrower’s request for review to the independent consultant for examination.  

Servicers may be asked to clarify or confirm facts and disclose reasons for 

events that occurred related to the foreclosure process, and customers could 

be asked to provide additional information or documentation. 

Independent Foreclosure Review for Distressed Homeowners