Ally and EverBank Join Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement

In July/August of 2013, Ally/GMAC and EverBank settled the Independent Foreclosure Review and (finally) halted their reviews. Now the only remaining bank working on independent foreclosure reviews is OneWest.

What Is the Independent Foreclosure Review?

The federal government created the Independent Foreclosure Review process in 2011 so that certain borrowers could get a review of the foreclosure procedures used in the foreclosures of their homes. However, the review proved to be far more time-consuming and costly than anticipated, so it was scrapped in favor of a multi-million dollar settlement.

Ally/GMAC and Everbank Settlement

Ally/GMAC and EverBank join the 13 mortgage servicers that previously settled: Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, MetLife Bank, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo and their affiliates.

EverBank will provide about $37 million in cash payments to more than 32,000 mortgage borrowers and $6.3 million to housing assistance groups. Ally/GMAC agreed to pay $230 million in direct cash payments to borrowers. For the EverBank and Ally/GMAC settlement, eligible borrowers will be contacted by a third-party agent that has yet to be named and will receive compensation whether or not they filed a request for review. As of late August 2013, the timeframe for receiving settlement checks had not been announced.

You can read more about the terms of the settlement, and what you can obtain as a borrower in Nolo's article Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement: Are You Entitled to Money?