New York, NY - June 17, 2014 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement of a multi-state settlement with SunTrust to remedy mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosure abuses:
“The law applies to everyone equally, no matter how rich or powerful, and our office will continue to hold mortgage servicers accountable when their practices abuse New Yorkers still struggling from the housing crisis. This settlement with SunTrust will result in $7.5 million in direct relief for New Yorkers to address abuses and delays they suffered throughout the mortgage process. Consumers will now be able to secure loan modifications and receive direct payments, and SunTrust will be subject to tough new mortgage servicing standards and oversight from an independent monitor.”
The settlement includes New York and 48 other states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The three-year settlement provides direct payments to New York borrowers for past foreclosure abuses. The agreement’s mortgage servicing terms largely mirror the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement reached in February of that year between the federal government, 49 state attorneys general, including Attorney General Schneiderman, and the five largest national mortgage servicers.