INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Hoosiers should be on the lookout for mailed notices coming this month that will provide instructions on how to claim reimbursements from the $470 million federal-state settlement with mortgage lender and servicer HSBC, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said.
The state-federal settlement, which was announced in February, addressed mortgage servicing and foreclosure abuses by HSBC during the financial crisis.
An estimated 2,810 Indiana borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure from Jan. 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2012 and encountered servicing abuses by HSBC are eligible for reimbursements. Individual payments will start at $780, and total reimbursement to Hoosiers could exceed $2 million.
“Many Hoosiers still feel the impact of the financial crisis, which was exacerbated by abuses and unethical practices in the mortgage lending and servicing industry,†Zoeller said. “My office and attorneys general across the nation have worked persistently over the years to hold these violators accountable, seek relief for victims and ensure exploitive practices by this industry don’t continue into the future.â€
Hoosiers should have received an initial postcard notice from HSBC settlement administrators informing them of their eligibility, and official instruction packets will be mailed out on Aug. 24.
Individuals who qualify for reimbursements from the HSBC settlement can start filing claims beginning on Aug. 24. All claim forms are due by Nov. 1, 2016, and payments are expected to be mailed out in February and March of 2017.
Hoosiers with questions about the process can call the toll-free hotline 1-888-538-5792 or visit www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com.
In addition to direct payments to consumers, the settlement with HSBC also required the company to comply with more rigorous mortgage servicing standards in the future. The terms will prohibit past foreclosure abuses, such as robo-signing, improper documentation and lost paperwork.
The HSBC settlement was preceded by the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) in February 2012 between the federal government, 49 state attorneys general, including Indiana, and the five largest national mortgage servicers. That agreement provided consumers nationwide with more than $50 billion in direct relief, created new servicing standards and implemented independent oversight. A subsequent state-federal agreement with SunTrust Mortgage Inc. worth nearly $1 billion was announced in June 2014.
Struggling homeowners can seek free legal advice from the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network at www.877gethope.com or from Indiana Legal Services, which received a grant from the AG’s Officelast year to support its foreclosure prevention services and debt counseling programs.
Zoeller thanked Deputy Attorney General Tom Irons for his work on this case.
