Thursday, July 10, 2014

Are you entitled to a piece of the $2 billion foreclosure settlement with Ocwen?

If you currently have a mortgage that is serviced by Ocwen Financial Corporation or Ocwen Loan Servicing, or if you had been involved with these companies and lost your home to foreclosure between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2012, you may be entitled to share in a massive settlement.

In December 2013, both of the Ocwen entities into a consent order with 49 States, including Illinois, as a result of Ocwen’s systemic misconduct at every stage of the mortgage servicing process that required them to provide $2 billion in principal reduction to underwater borrowers who still have their homes, and to provide $125 million to people who already lost their homes.

Notice packages have now been mailed to affected borrowers and The National Ocwen Settlement Administrator has created a website with information for consumers. If you have received correspondence from Ocwen, or if you think that you may be entitled to file a claim, please submit a confidential email to me HERE.  

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Illinois Residential Mortgage License Act

Earlier this year, the Illinois Appellate Court held, as a matter of first impression, that residential mortgages made by an unlicensed entity are invalid under the Illinois Residential Mortgage License Act of 1987, 205 ILCS 635, et seq. The court relied on the rule that courts will not enforce a contract made by an unlicensed entity when licensing is expressly required by a law that seeks to safeguard the public's interest. HERE is a link to that case. 

I am currently defending a homeowner in a mortgage foreclosure case and I thought I better check to see if the lender is licensed in Illinois. It turns out that they are. But I wanted to relay the link to the current list of licensed mortgage lenders just in case anybody is interested. The list can be found HERE. Good luck.