JPMorgan Chase has continued to take steps towards satisfying its portion of the residential mortgage-backed securities settlement, according to the independent monitor put in place to track the bank's progress.
Joseph A. Smith Jr. said on July 9 that the $2.1 trillion-asset banking giant is on schedule to fulfill its $4 billion borrower repayment settlement obligations. JPM has thus far paid over $3.3 billion to borrowers, the former North Carolina banking commissioner said in his fifth report on the settlement status. The bank must repay a total of $4 billion to borrowers by Dec. 31. 2017.
"My team and I have completed an in-depth review of [JP Morgan Chase's] consumer relief activities through the end of 2014," Smith said in a released statement. "As a result of our work, I have credited [JP Morgan Chase] with more than three-fourths of the $4 billion it must provide under the settlement."
This is a marked improvement from Smith's
Smith, who now runs an independent monitoring business, was selected by 49 state attorneys general, the federal government and five mortgage servicers to monitor the progress of JPM's $13 billion settlement over claims that Chase, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, all of which are now owned by JPM, sold bad mortgage notes to investors leading into the 2008 financial crisis. In addition to the $4 billion, JPM also agreed to pay $9 billion directly to states.
"We continue to help thousands of families become homeowners and assist those who may be struggling," JPM spokesman Jason Lobo said in an email to National Mortgage News. "Our efforts have helped more than 158,000 families through more than $19 billion in total mortgage relief."
Smith served as banking commissioner of North Carolina from 2002 until 2012 and was nominated by President Obama in 2010 to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency but withdrew himself from consideration due to opposition in the Senate.
