NYC Funds Concerned about Foreclosure Handlings

The Associated Press reports that City Comptroller John Liu said the retirement system owns about $1.77 billion worth of stock in Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. — an investment that could take a hit if the banks mishandle the mountains of bad home loans facing the industry. Liu said the trustees have become concerned in recent months about a variety of reported problems in the way banks are handling foreclosures.  

According to the news report, the trustees have filed a shareholder proposal calling for the banks’ directors to perform independent audits of internal controls over the foreclosure process and report back by September 30. Among other things, the review calls for an examination of whether the banks have created “perverse” incentives that lead to houses being seized even when a loan modification might be better for everyone involved.  

“We raised concerns with the banks in July that misaligned incentives, inferior customer service and repeated requests for paperwork were undermining the loan modification process and leading to unnecessary foreclosures for homeowners,” Liu said in a statement, according to the AP.  

Bank of America said the resolution would be considered, along with other shareholder proposals, at the company’s annual meeting. Spokespeople for the other three banks declined to comment.  

Last month, several major banks temporarily halted most or all of their foreclosures nationwide after allegations that signatures were forged and documents weren’t checked properly in thousands of cases.