EverBank (EVER) has agreed to pay an estimated $37 million in cash payments to more than 32,000 eligible mortgage borrowers, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Friday.
Borrowers whose home was in any stage of foreclosure between 2009 and 2010 with EverBank will be granted cash compensation, with payments ranging from $1,050 to $125,000 plus equity when appropriate.
Borrowers who are eligible will be contacted directly by a third-party paying agent and will receive compensation whether or not they filed a request for review form. To be eligible for compensation, borrowers are not required to take further action.
Additional information regarding payments will be announced in the near future, the OCC said in a statement.
Because EverBank was subject to a cease and desist order for unsafe and unsound practices in mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing, it will consent to an amendment to the order, which will put an end to the Independent Foreclosure Review process for the bank and its customers.
Additionally, EverBank will also pay an estimated $6.3 million to organizations that are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or other tax-exempt organizations that make their mission providing affordable housing, foreclosure prevention and/or education assistance to low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
Organizations that receive these payments must be approved by the OCC.
Eligible borrowers who are still in the process of foreclosure will be evaluated by EverBank and considered for a new loan modification, where investor contracts allow, and will establish a special complaint process in an attempt to solve borrower complaints that relate to credit report errors.
The OCC and the Federal Reserve previously entered into amendments to orders with Aurora Bank, Bank of America (BAC), Citibank (C), GMAC Mortgage, Goldman Sachs (GS), HSBC (HBC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley (MS), PNC (PNC), Sovereign, SunTrust (STI), U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo (WFC).
Borrowers who take the payment will not be blocked from taking any action related to their foreclosure. Servicers are not allowed to request a signed waiver from borrowers regarding any legal claims they may have against their servicer regarding the accepted payments.
Servicers' efforts are continually monitored by the OCC to correct the unsafe or unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices as required by the orders previously issued against the servicers.
