Nation’s Largest Non-bank Mortgage Servicer Faces $73 Million Settlement

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced a settlement with Nationstar Mortgage, LLC in the amount of $73 million to recover for 40,000 consumers harmed by unfair and deceptive practices of the company.

Here’s more from the CFPB:

“Mortgage servicers are entrusted with handling significant financial transactions for millions of Americans, including struggling homeowners. Nationstar broke that trust by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices prohibited by the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, as well as violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Homeowner’s Protection Act,” said CFPB Director Kathleen L. Kraninger. “Today’s action is the culmination of a multi-year effort working with our state partners to investigate Nationstar’s failings, which resulted in substantial consumer harm. We had a strong partnership with our state counterparts in this case and I thank them for all their support in this case.”

Here’s more on the exact nature of the unfair and deceptive practices alleged:

Specifically, the Bureau alleges that between January 2012 and January 1, 2016, in numerous instances Nationstar failed to identify loans on its systems that had pending loss-mitigation applications or trial-modification plans, and as a result failed to honor borrowers’ loan modification agreements. Nationstar allegedly foreclosed on borrowers to whom it had promised it would not foreclose while their loss mitigation applications were pending. Nationstar also allegedly improperly increased borrowers’ permanent, modified monthly loan payments, mispresented to borrowers when they would be eligible to have their private mortgage insurance premiums canceled, and failed to timely remove private mortgage insurance from borrowers’ accounts. Nationstar allegedly failed to timely disburse borrowers’ tax payments from their escrow accounts and failed to properly conduct escrow analyses for borrowers during their Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings.

In addition to the settlement, if the court officially enters the judgment, Nationstar will be forced to demonstrate updated practices and procedures that reflect an emphasis on consumer protection.