Attorney General Koster announces National Mortgage Settlement payments to Missouri borrowers

— $34 million in payments to benefit more than 20,000 Missourians —

Jefferson City, MO – July 8, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Attorney General Chris Koster today announced that Missouri borrowers who submitted a valid foreclosure payment claim through the National Mortgage Settlement will receive a payment this month for approximately $1,480.

In February 2012, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government announced the joint state-federal National Mortgage Settlement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers. Ally (formerly GMAC), Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo participated in the settlement, which set aside $1.5 billion for direct payments to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure.

23,707 Missouri borrowers will receive a direct payment under the Settlement, totaling $33,933,493 statewide. To qualify for the direct payments, borrowers had their mortgage serviced by one of the five participating mortgage services, lost their home to foreclosure between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011, and submitted a valid claim form. The settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, will mail valid claim payments from June 10 through June 17.

“While these settlement payments cannot undo a foreclosure, they acknowledge and provide some relief to Missourians for the mortgage servicing abuse they endured,” said Koster. “Submitting a claim and accepting a settlement payment does not prevent borrowers from seeking other legal recourse against their mortgage servicer.”

A small number of borrowers will receive a check for less than the approximately $1,480 payment in situations where borrowers are divorced or separated and no longer live at the same address. The full per-loan amount will be paid on these loans, but the payment will be evenly split between the borrowers. Others who submitted a claim form but do not have a valid Social Security number on file will be delayed in receiving their payments while tax-related issues are addressed. Two servicers recently provided information on an additional 31,000 borrowers, who were not included in the current distribution, but who will receive a notice in the coming months to submit a payment application.

Every borrower who filed a claim will receive a letter regarding their outcome. Borrowers with questions about their National Mortgage Settlement payment should call settlement administrator Rust Consulting at 1-866-430-8358.