Mortgage Loan Delinquency Tracker: CFPB's new Mortgage Performance Trends Tool Announced

October 30, 2017 Press Release re-post 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU LAUNCHES NEW MORTGAGE PERFORMANCE TRENDS TOOL FOR TRACKING DELINQUENCY RATES

Newly Available Data Shows Lowest Mortgage Delinquency Rate Since the Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced the launch of a new Mortgage Performance Trends tool that tracks delinquency rates nationwide. Information newly available through this tool shows that mortgage delinquency rates nationally are at their lowest point since the financial crisis. In addition to national data, the online tool features interactive charts and graphs with data on mortgage delinquency rates for 50 states and the District of Columbia at the county and metro-area level. 

“Measuring the number of consumers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments is a telling barometer of the health of mortgage markets locally and nationally,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “This rich information source identifies mortgage delinquency rates down to the county and metro-area level, making it a useful public tool.” 

With a combined value of roughly $10 trillion, mortgages make up the nation’s largest consumer credit market. A delinquent mortgage is a home loan for which the borrower has failed to make payments as required in the loan documents. If the borrower can't bring the payments on a delinquent mortgage current within a certain time period, the lender may begin foreclosure proceedings. Whether consumers can make their mortgage payments is an important sign of the health of the mortgage market and the overall economy. For instance, job growth, higher wages, and higher home values generally lead to fewer missed or late mortgage payments. 

The Mortgage Performance Trends tool measures the delinquency rates in two general categories. The first category is comprised of borrowers who are 30 to 89 days behind on their mortgage payments, which generally means they have missed one or two payments. Tracking this rate can detect trends in the increase or decrease in the number of delinquencies, and act as an early warning sign for mortgage market developments that impact the overall economy. The second category is serious delinquencies, which is made up of borrowers who are more than 90 days overdue. If high, this rate reflects more severe economic distress. 

The interactive charts and maps in the tool track monthly changes in both categories of delinquency rates starting in 2008, when the financial crisis was unfolding. Leading up to the crisis, some lenders originated mortgages to consumers without considering their ability to repay the loans. The decline in underwriting standards led to skyrocketing rates of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. As required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFPB put in place rules to address the issues that helped trigger the crisis. These rules require lenders to assess a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage before making the loan and require servicers to assist borrowers struggling to repay their mortgages. Mortgage delinquency data reflected in the Mortgage Performance Trends tool shows that among other things: 

• Rates of serious delinquency are at the lowest level since the financial crisis: According to the data, the national rate of seriously delinquent mortgages peaked at 4.9 percent in 2010. As of March 2017, the rate had fallen to 1.1 percent, the lowest level since 2008. Colorado and Alaska have the fewest serious delinquencies, with 0.5 percent. New Jersey and Mississippi have the highest rates of delinquencies of more than 90 days, with 2.1 percent. For mortgages that are delinquent by less than 90 days, Mississippi has the highest rate, at 4.3 percent. Washington State has the lowest rate, at 1 percent.
• Most states hardest hit by the housing crisis have steadily recovered: At the peak of the financial crisis, both California and Arizona had rates of serious delinquencies of 7.5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, and both are now below 1 percent.  Nevada, which peaked at 10.7 percent, now has a serious delinquency rate of 1.2 percent, nearly the same as the national average. Florida, which peaked at 9.0 percent, now has a rate of 1.4 percent. 

Information in the Mortgage Performance Trends tool comes from the National Mortgage Database, which the CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency launched in 2012. The database supports policymaking and research, and helps regulators better understand emerging mortgage and housing market trends. The National Mortgage Database includes information spanning the life of a mortgage loan from origination through servicing and captures a variety of borrower characteristics. It is a nationally representative sample of all outstanding, closed-end, first-lien mortgages for one-to-four family residences. 

The Mortgage Performance Trends tool has many protections in place to protect personal identity. Before the CFPB or the FHFA receive data for the National Mortgage Database, all records are stripped of information that might reveal a consumer’s identity, such as names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. 

The new Mortgage Performance Trends tool can be found at: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/mortgage-performance-trends

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.

Green Tree Servicing to pay $48 million in restitution and $15 mil penalty stemming from misconduct in loan servicing [re-post of press release from the CFPB and FTC]

April 21, 2015 MEDIA RELEASE VIA INTERNET: 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU AND FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION TAKE ACTION AGAINST GREEN TREE SERVICING FOR MISTREATING BORROWERS TRYING TO SAVE THEIR HOMES

Green Tree to Pay $48 Million in Borrower Restitution and $15 Million Fine for Servicing Failures

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against Green Tree Servicing, LLC, for mistreating mortgage borrowers who were trying to save their homes from foreclosure. The mortgage servicer failed to honor modifications for loans transferred from other servicers, demanded payments before providing loss mitigation options, delayed decisions on short sales, and harassed and threatened overdue borrowers. Green Tree has agreed to pay $48 million in restitution to victims, and a $15 million civil money penalty for its illegal actions. 

Different kind of Green Tree 

“Green Tree failed consumers who were struggling by prioritizing collecting payments over helping homeowners,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “When homeowners in distress had their mortgages transferred to Green Tree, their previous foreclosure relief plans were not maintained. We are holding Green Tree accountable for its unlawful conduct.”

Green Tree, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., is a national mortgage servicing company. It has rapidly expanded into the residential mortgage market and services loans for millions of homeowners. Green Tree specializes in servicing delinquent loans and markets itself as a “high touch” servicer that makes frequent collection calls to consumers. 

As a servicer, Green Tree is responsible for, among other things, creating and sending monthly statements to borrowers, collecting payments, and processing payments. For troubled borrowers, it administers short sale and foreclosure relief programs provided by the owner of the loan. These “loss mitigation” programs provide alternatives to foreclosure. Green Tree is responsible for soliciting borrowers for these programs, collecting their applications, determining eligibility, and implementing the loss mitigation program for qualified borrowers. 

The CFPB and FTC allege that Green Tree engaged in illegal practices when servicing loans that it acquired from other servicers. According to the complaint filed by the CFPB and FTC, on a number of occasions, Green Tree failed to honor loan modifications that consumers had entered into with their prior servicers and insisted that the consumer pay their original, higher monthly payment. Green Tree also failed at times to get the information and documentation from the prior servicer that it needed to accurately collect payments from consumers. Green Tree demanded payments before providing loss mitigation options, delayed decisions on short sales, and resorted to illegal practices to collect mortgage payments from consumers who fell behind on their loans, including false threats, repeated calls, and revealing debts to third parties, like employers. 

Green Tree’s failures as a mortgage servicer hurt homeowners. In many cases, Green Tree delayed or deprived borrowers of the opportunity to save or sell their home. Specifically, the Bureau and the FTC allege that from 2010 to 2014, the company: 

• Demanded payments before providing loss mitigation options: Delinquent consumers who called Green Tree were automatically routed to a debt collector. The CFPB and FTC allege that consumers who wanted to speak with a customer service representative or loss mitigation specialist rather than a collector found that there was no way to do so and were sometimes told that they had to make a loan payment before they could be considered for a loan modification. In reality, consumers did not need to make payments on their loans before they could be considered for a loan modification. For example, the Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”), which Green Tree participated in, does not allow participating servicers to require consumers to make payments before considering them for a loan modification. 
• Failed to honor in-process modifications: Because Green Tree was rapidly expanding its mortgage servicing business, it often acquired customers who already had an agreement with their previous servicer to modify their loans. The complaint alleges that Green Tree, in many instances, failed to honor these agreements and insisted that consumers pay their old higher mortgage payment. 
• Delayed short sales: Green Tree’s short sale department was frequently unreachable and unresponsive. The complaint alleges that in numerous instances, Green Tree took two to six months to respond to consumer requests for short sales. This could have cost consumers potential buyers, and it may also have cost them other loss mitigation alternatives while their short sale requests were pending. 
• Harassed and threatened overdue borrowers: The CFPB and FTC allege that if a consumer was two weeks or more past due, Green Tree consumers could receive seven to 20 phone calls a day. Some Green Tree representatives also told consumers that nonpayment of their mortgage loan could result in arrest or imprisonment. Or, representatives threatened seizure or garnishment of the consumer’s wages when Green Tree had no intention to take such actions. Such threats are illegal. 
• Used deceptive tactics to charge consumers convenience fees: The Bureau and the FTC allege that Green Tree deceived consumers to get them to pay $12 for its pay-by-phone service, called Speedpay. Green Tree representatives would pressure consumers to use the service by telling consumers that Speedpay was the only available payment method to ensure the payment would be received on time. In fact, Green Tree accepted other payment methods that do not involve a fee, such as checks and ACH payments, which consumers could have used to make a timely payment. 

This enforcement action covers Green Tree’s illegal practices prior to the January 2014 effective date of the CFPB’s new mortgage servicing rules. 

Enforcement ActionUnder the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFPB has the authority to take action against institutions engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. The CFPB also has authority to take action against institutions violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. If entered by the court, today’s order would require Green Tree to: 

• Pay $48 million in redress to victims: Green Tree must pay $48 million to thousands of consumers whose loan modifications were not honored, who had their short sales decisions delayed because of Green Tree’s poor servicing, or who were deceptively charged convenience fees when paying their mortgage. Borrowers who receive payments will not be prevented from taking individual action on their claims as a result of this settlement. 
• Engage in efforts to help affected borrowers preserve their home: For certain borrowers affected by Green Tree’s unlawful practices who were not foreclosed on, Green Tree must convert in-process loan modifications into permanent modifications and engage in outreach, including telephone and mail campaigns and translation services, to contact borrowers and offer them loss mitigation options. And Green Tree must halt the foreclosure process, if one is happening, during this outreach and qualification process for these borrowers. 
• End all mortgage servicing violations: In addition to being subject to the loss mitigation provisions of the CFPB’s new mortgage servicing rules, Green Tree is prohibited from making misrepresentations to consumers regarding loss mitigation, such as false statements about how much consumers owe Green Tree. Green Tree must take other actions relating to servicing loans in loss mitigation, such as acknowledging the receipt of a short sale request and providing consumers with a list of any missing documents, within five days. 
• Adhere to rigorous servicing transfer requirements: Green Tree must create a detailed data integrity program that tests, identifies, and corrects errors in loans transferred to Green Tree to ensure that Green Tree has accurate information about consumers’ loans. Green Tree may not transfer loans in loss mitigation, in or out, unless all account-level documents and data relating to loss mitigation are provided to the new servicer by the date of transfer. 
• Honor prior loss mitigation agreements: Green Tree must honor loss mitigation agreements entered by the prior servicer, continue processing pending loss mitigation requests received in the transfer, and review and evaluate pending loss mitigation applications within a set time. 
• Provide access to quality customer service: Green Tree must ensure that consumers are referred to a loss mitigation or other appropriate supervisor upon request, have access to individuals able to stop foreclosure proceedings, and are not subject to compensation arrangements that encourage collection over loss mitigation. 
• Pay $15 million civil penalty: Green Tree will make a $15 million penalty payment to the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund. 

The Bureau’s complaints and consent orders are not findings or rulings that the defendants have actually violated the law. 

A copy of the proposed consent order is available at:http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_proposed-consent-order-green-tree.pdf 

A copy of the complaint is available at:http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_complaint-green-tree.pdf   

Today’s settlement is a collaborative effort with the FTC. The FTC’s press release is available at: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/04/national-mortgage-servicing-company-will-pay-63-million-settle

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