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Foreclosed homeowners have until Dec. 31 to request review

December 15, 2012 at 1:30 pm 3

Baltimore homeowners who were foreclosed by their lender in 2009 or 2010 may be eligible for an “independent foreclosure review” – and may receive compensation if the review finds they were financially injured because of errors during the foreclosure process, according to Belair-Edison Neighborhoods, Inc. (BENI).

But the parties must obtain and complete a Request for Review Form by December 31, according to Johnette Richardson, executive director of BENI. The independent review – which is free of charge – will determine if the homeowner is owed a payment or other compensation because of errors during the foreclosure process.

“We have found that many consumers do not understand the Independent Foreclosure Review program and have not submitted a request for review,” Richardson said.

As part of a nationwide consent order with federal regulators, more than 25 mortgage servicers have identified homeowners who were part of foreclosure actions between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. These homeowner are eligible for the independent review.

More information is available at IndependentForeclosureReview.com or by calling 1-888-952-9105.

You may also call BENI at 410-485-8422. The neighborhood group is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency that offers services to potential homebuyers in Baltimore and current homeowners throughout Maryland.

“We have been working with homeowners facing foreclosure to save their homes since 2006,” Richardson said.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DXDHFKXRL3FONXU5AIQOUGL6Z4 Sean

    The outreach on this program has been fairly minimal.  We have started a petition asking that they postpone the deadline until after they’ve released the results of at least 215,000 cases.  Please sign if you agree that this is too important to let expire on December 31: http://foreclosurehelpscc.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/seven-reasons-to-postpone-the-independent-foreclosure-review/

  • trueheart4life

    Informative reporting … Nice!

  • desolationpress

    I lost my home in a short sale right before the foreclosure deadline. The only bright spot was an open ended question on the Independent Foreclosure Review Form asking me to describe “any other way I may have been financially injured by the foreclosure process.”

    After composing my response, I sent hard copies to the Independent Reviewer, the House and Senate Finance committees, and the chief executives of PNC. I also posted it on my website: 

    See http://www.desolationpress.com/essays/indreview.html

    After a day or so of reflection, I thought it might serve as a good template for others to use. 

    See http://www.desolationpress.com/essays/testimony.html

    I encourage people to complete the form, and send their story to members of Congress. A few truckloads of letters might give them a better sense of the magnitude of the issue.   

    As they keep extending the deadline for this process, I’m starting to doubt that anyone will receive any real compensation for their loss. The banks have firmly established that they won’t admit any culpability for their actions, so our best bet may be to publicly shame them into some sort of confession. Perhaps we should make them wait for a year or two before they receive their next taxpayer bailout.   

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