National Mortgage Servicing Settlement Monitor Adds Enforcement Metrics

Mortgage Servicing National Mortgage Servicing Settlement Loss Mitigation

On October 2, Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the Monitor of the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement announced four new metrics his office will use to measure the settling servicers’ compliance with the agreement’s servicing standards. Two of the metrics take effect on January 1, 2014 and are intended to (i) ensure borrowers are provided contact information for new “single points of contact” and (ii) ensure that servicers’ monthly billing statements are accurate and detailed. Compliance testing on two additional metrics related to servicers’ communications to borrowers regarding the requirements for loan modification applications will begin on April 1, 2014. Those metrics are meant to (i) ensure that the servicers do not reject a borrower’s loan modification application or proceed with a foreclosure for at least 30 days while the borrower is responding to requests for additional documents and (ii) ensure the servicers communicate modification denials and make loss mitigation alternatives available.