Both the Fair
Housing Act and Civil Rights Act were designed to protect consumers and
homeowners from being trampled in the way they have been repeatedly… if you
were told you did not qualify to apply, should not apply, or otherwise
discouraged from applying for a loan or modification for any reason it could be
a Fair Housing violation; if you believe you are qualified for loans you can
repay to keep you in your home but believe you have been improperly denied a
loan or modification it could be a Fair Housing violation; if during the course
of the loan, from beginning to now you believe you were discriminated against,
treated differently, or harmed by your Servicer or Lender it could be a
violation of the Fair Housing Act. Read
More at The Huffington Post
With home prices
on the rise and foreclosures down nearly 30 percent from this time last year,
the major issue distressed homeowners face today is the lack of laws that
mortgage servicers are forced to abide by… During the housing crisis, the
sloppy and unscrupulous collection practices were exposed as millions of
homeowners could no longer afford to pay their mortgage. Because of this,
various laws came into play and the CFPB has established a new set of rules
servicers must follow – beginning January 1, 2014. Read
More at LoanSafe
The
Massachusetts Division of Banks has adopted amendments to its debt collection
and loan servicing rules that prevent third-party mortgage servicers, including
banks, from foreclosing on mortgaged property if an application for a loan
modification is in process. The amended rules, which became effective on
October 11, are meant to complement the recently adopted foreclosure prevention
rules that require home mortgage lenders and servicers to modify certain
mortgage loans if the cost of modification is less than the cost of
foreclosure, according to the Division… Under the amended debt collection and
loan servicing rules, third-party mortgage servicers are required to consider
options to avoid foreclosure and third-party mortgage servicers are prohibited
from initiating a foreclosure when an application for a loan modification is in
process, a practice also known as “dual tracking.” Read
More at Lexology