KECI: Senator Tester Grills Bankers Over Foreclosure Procedures
MISSOULA, Mont — Senator Jon Tester today grilled some of Wall Street’s top bankers on questionable foreclosure practices, demanding that they answer to firsthand accounts from Montanans of improper and potentially fraudulent foreclosure activities.
During a Senate hearing focused on allegations of big Wall Street banks improperly foreclosing on homes, Tester demanded bank executives answer for the case of Jim Ahern from Helena, Mont. Ahern was never late with, and never missed a mortgage payment, when he received a letter telling him he was in foreclosure, along with a foreclosure notice that ran in his local newspaper.
Ahern was forced to fight the foreclosure for more than year, despite providing proof of a loan modification approved by Bank of America representatives. Ahern also received his foreclosure notice during Bank of America’s self-imposed “pause” in foreclosures.
“We’ve got a state of 950,000 people and I’ve got staff members that are spending a ton of time on this issue,” Tester told the executives. “I think it’s more than an isolated case. These folks never missed a payment and they’re getting hammered. Can you tell me how a servicer would tell a homeowner not to pay their mortgage?”
