Tom Ramstack – AHN News Correspondent
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The Federal Reserve plans to announce results of its investigation next month into whether mortgage lenders improperly evicted homeowners during the housing crunch that ushered in the nation’s ongoing economic crisis.
A finding that lenders cut corners on foreclosure procedures is nearly certain to cause a regulatory or law enforcement backlash against them.
“We take violations of proper procedures seriously,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday during a conference on mortgage lending in Arlington, VA.
“I would like to note that we have been concerned about reported irregularities in foreclosure practices at a number of large financial institutions,” Bernanke said.
Speakers at the two-day conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are offering solutions on how to avoid another housing crunch.
“The federal banking agencies are working together to complete an in-depth review of practices at the largest mortgaging servicing operations,” Bernanke said. “We are looking intensively at the firms’ policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures.”
The Federal Reserve’s investigation is one of several reviewing the extent to which big banks can be blamed for the economic recession that led to the current 9.7 percent unemployment rate and widespread home foreclosures.
Other investigations are being done by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Treasury Department, the Justice Department and attorneys general in all 50 states.
So far, the investigations have revealed no “systemic” threats to the financial system, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said last week.
Allegations of improper paperwork already compelled Bank of America to temporarily halt foreclosures this month in 23 states until it completed an internal review. The bank still is reviewing whether its agents followed proper foreclosure procedures in California and 26 other states.
Ally Financial Inc., formerly GMAC Inc., also stopped its foreclosures briefly until it completed an internal review.
Some members of Congress – including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) – have called for a moratorium on foreclosures until the unemployment rate improves.
However, President Barack Obama has resisted a moratorium, saying it could drive down home prices and potentially increase foreclosures by adding to the number of homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are worth. About 25 percent of home sales involve foreclosed property.
Banks foreclosed on a record 102,134 homes in September, according to the real estate industry monitoring firm RealtyTrac.
Bernanke said the foreclosure crisis has caused “tremendous upheaval in housing markets.”
“Now, more than 20 percent of borrowers owe more than their home is worth and an additional 33 percent have equity cushions of 10 percent or less, putting them at risk should house prices decline much further,” he said in his speech Monday. “With housing markets still weak, high levels of mortgage distress may well persist for some time to come.”
The Federal Reserve is trying to shore up the real estate market by repurchasing mortgage-backed bonds.
The bond purchases are helping to keep interest rates low, which economists say is an incentive for home buyers.
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