Mortgage Servicing

BuckleySandler handles the full panoply of mortgage servicing issues, including:

• Default management and foreclosure alternatives
  • Compliance with HAMP and other federal or state loan modification programs
  • Compliance with state default requirements including foreclosure laws
  • Compliance with bankruptcy rules
  • Compliance with state and federal fair debt collection requirements
  • Compliance with state and federal privacy requirements
  • Compliance with FHA loss mitigation and other default requirements
  • Compliance with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and private label securities investor requirements
  • Review of collection and default correspondence and scripts
  • Default fees, services and default arrangements such as lender-placed insurance requirements, field services and valuations
• Advice regarding non-default servicing operations, including billing statements, payment application, customer service, servicing fees, escrows, payoffs and releases
• Advice and assistance in obtaining required state licenses to engage in mortgage servicing operations or to hold MSRs
• Purchase and sale of mortgage servicing and negotiation of subservicing and special servicing arrangements
• State licensing requirements, including impact of SAFE Act loan originator licensing on mortgage servicers 
• Federal preemption for banks servicing loans, including the potential impact of the Dodd-Frank Act

Capital Markets

BuckleySandler handles a wide variety of secondary mortgage market issues, including:

• Drafting and negotiating wholesale broker and correspondent agreements
• Flow and bulk purchase and sale of mortgages and mortgage servicing rights
• Seller and servicer disclosures under Regulation AB
• Warehouse lending agreements
• Advice and assistance on loan repurchase and indemnification requests

Litigation and Enforcement

BuckleySandler has industry leading experience handling litigation and enforcement issues facing mortgage servicers. We are at the forefront of regulatory and private litigation actions involving:

• Fair and responsible banking matters, including emerging fair servicing theories 
• Loss mitigation and loan modification matters
• Foreclosure matters, including banking agency examinations and horizontal review of robo-signing, affidavit and related foreclosure matters
• Servicing fee matters
• Bankruptcy matters
• Affiliated and unaffiliated servicing vendor management matters 
• SCRA investigations and enforcement actions  
• State Attorneys General claims arising under consumer protection and Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP) laws
• Federal Housing Finance Agency investigations  
• False Claims Act matters 

We also assist clients with proactive and remedial efforts to enhance servicing compliance policies, procedures, practices and internal controls, including preparation of comprehensive legal requirement inventories, legal risk assessments and preparation and review of policies and procedures.

Some recent representative matters include:

• Representing two mortgage servicing companies in DOJ investigations alleging failures to comply with SCRA lending requirements and guidelines, including confirming independently whether borrowers were on active duty before initiating nonjudicial foreclosures. Multiple cases settled collectively for $23 million, without admission of fault, on favorable terms.
• Representing a top 10 mortgage servicer in joint action by the Department of Justice and HUD OIG. Successfully obtained dismissal of HUD proceeding alleging violation of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, and jointly negotiated pre-suit settlement of False Claims Act allegations with a U.S. Attorney’s Office and HUD in a several-years-long investigation.
• Representing mortgage servicers in investigations initiated by various federal banking regulatory agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, state enforcement agencies and Congress regarding fair and predatory lending and servicing practices.

For a more comprehensive list of representative matters, please see “Significant Representations” below.