NEWARK
– Countrywide Financial Corporation
(“Countrywide”) today
is mailing settlement offers to 887 borrowers
in New Jersey who lost their homes to foreclosure.
These borrowers are eligible for settlement
payments under terms of national settlement
that Countrywide reached with Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Attorneys General from 39
other states.
Countrywide
will offer each eligible New Jersey borrower
a minimum settlement payment of $3,011. The
exact amount to be paid will depend on how
many of the 887 eligible borrowers opt into
the settlement. The settlement letters include
detailed information about the program and
how to contact Countrywide’s claims
administrator with questions.
"These settlement payouts are important,
because they provide some degree of recompense
to borrowers who were signed to inappropriate
or bad loans and, ultimately, suffered financial
harm,” Attorney General Milgram
said. “The Countrywide settlement
is just one part of the comprehensive effort
we have undertaken to help distressed borrowers
during these difficult financial times.”
The
Office of the Attorney General has filed a
total of 11 civil mortgage fraud complaints
since June 2008 naming 102 individual and
corporate defendants, affecting more than
950 victims and property worth more than $29.1
million. The state has also obtained indictments
or guilty pleas in seven criminal mortgage
fraud cases involving a total of 10 defendants
who were charged with victimizing close to
60 individuals and banks in connection with
loans worth nearly $11 million.
Borrowers
meeting the criteria listed below are eligible
to receive a settlement payment from Countrywide:
-
The loan was made by Countrywide;
- The
loan was secured by an owner-occupied property;
-
The first payment on the loan was due between
January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2007; and
-
The Borrower lost the property securing
the loan through foreclosure, deed in lieu
of foreclosure, or a short sale on or before
March 31, 2009.
Eligible
borrowers will be required to provide Countrywide
with a release in exchange for a settlement
payment. Additionally, they must respond to
Countrywide’s claims administrator,
Rust Consulting, by September 23, 2009. Borrowers
with any questions about the release are encouraged
to speak with a lawyer. They can also contact
Rust Consulting at 1-866-411-6987
or via www.countrywidesettlementinfo.com
if they have questions.
Under
the multi-state settlement, Countrywide also
agreed to specific loan modification programs
and agreed to change its mortgage lending
practices to closely monitor borrowers having
trouble making their loan payments.
Assistant
Attorney General James J. Savage represented
New Jersey in the settlement process with
Countrywide.
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