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Oversight of the Justice Department's Mortgage CONSUMERS SHORTCHANGED? OVERSIGHT OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT’S MORTGAGE LENDING SETTLEMENTS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATORY REFORM, COMMERCIAL AND ANTITRUST LAW OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 12, 2015 Serial No. 114–16 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 93–280 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia, Chairman F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan Wisconsin JERROLD NADLER, New York LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DARRELL E. ISSA, California STEVE COHEN, Tennessee J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., STEVE KING, Iowa Georgia TRENT FRANKS, Arizona PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas JUDY CHU, California JIM JORDAN, Ohio TED DEUTCH, Florida TED POE, Texas LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah KAREN BASS, California TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania CEDRIC RICHMOND, Louisiana TREY GOWDY, South Carolina SUZAN DelBENE, Washington RAU´ L LABRADOR, Idaho HAKEEM JEFFRIES, New York BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island DOUG COLLINS, Georgia SCOTT PETERS, California RON DeSANTIS, Florida MIMI WALTERS, California KEN BUCK, Colorado JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas DAVE TROTT, Michigan MIKE BISHOP, Michigan SHELLEY HUSBAND, Chief of Staff & General Counsel PERRY APELBAUM, Minority Staff Director & Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATORY REFORM, COMMERCIAL AND ANTITRUST LAW TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania, Chairman BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas, Vice-Chairman DARRELL E. ISSA, California HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., DOUG COLLINS, Georgia Georgia MIMI WALTERS, California SUZAN DelBENE, Washington JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas HAKEEM JEFFRIES, New York DAVE TROTT, Michigan DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island MIKE BISHOP, Michigan SCOTT PETERS, California DANIEL FLORES, Chief Counsel (II) C O N T E N T S FEBRUARY 12, 2015 Page OPENING STATEMENTS The Honorable Tom Marino, a Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Com- mercial and Antitrust Law .................................................................................. 1 The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary ......... 3 The Honorable Bob Goodlatte, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, and Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary ................................. 7 WITNESSES Geoffrey Graber, Deputy Associate Attorney General and Director, RMBS Working Group of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, U.S. De- partment of Justice, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 21 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 24 Paul J. Larkin, Jr., Senior Legal Research Fellow, Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 49 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 52 Theodore H. Frank, Founder, Center for Class Action Fairness, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 69 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 71 Cornelia Mrose, CEO, Compass Films of New York LLC, Westchester, NY Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 85 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 88 Alan M. White, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law, New York, NY Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 92 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 94 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Material submitted by the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary ................................................................................................... 4 Prepared Statement of the Honorable Henry C. ‘‘Hank’’ Johnson, Jr., a Rep- resentative in Congress from the State of Georgia, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law .......... 8 Material submitted by the Honorable Tom Marino, a Representative in Con- gress from the State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law ........................................ 10 Material submitted by the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York, and Member, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law ........................................ 37 Material submitted by the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary ................................................................................................... 103 (III) IV Page Material submitted by the Honorable Tom Marino, a Representative in Con- gress from the State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law ........................................ 114 APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD Response to Questions for the Record from Geoffrey Graber, Deputy Associate Attorney General and Director, RMBS Working Group of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, U.S. Department ............................................ 122 Response to Questions for the Record from Alan M. White, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law, New York, NY ....................................................... 127 Letter from Lautaro ‘‘Lot’’ Diaz, Vice President, Housing and Community Development, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) ......................................... 131 Prepared Statement on Behalf of the Association of Mortgage Investors (AMI) ..................................................................................................................... 138 CONSUMERS SHORTCHANGED? OVERSIGHT OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT’S MORT- GAGE LENDING SETTLEMENTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATORY REFORM, COMMERCIAL AND ANTITRUST LAW COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:32 a.m., in room 2141, Rayburn Office Building, the Honorable Tom Marino (Chair- man of the Subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Marino, Goodlatte, Collins, Ratcliffe, Trott, Bishop, Conyers, and Jeffries. Also present: Representative King. Staff present: (Majority) Dan Huff, Counsel; Andrea Lindsey, Clerk; and (Minority) Slade Bond, Counsel. Mr. MARINO. The Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commer- cial and Antitrust Law will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare recesses of the Committee at any time. We welcome everyone to today’s hearing on Consumers Short- changed? Oversight of the Justice Department’s Mortgage Lending Settlements. I will recognize myself for a brief opening statement. Welcome to this hearing entitled ‘‘Consumers Shortchanged? Oversight of the Justice Department’s Mortgage Lending Settle- ments.’’ At issue are DOJ’s high profile settlements with JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America over their activities related to the financial crisis. The Committee is concerned that too much of the settlement money is not making it directly to consumers genuinely harmed. The Citi and Bank of America settlements require the banks to donate at least $150 million and as much as over a half billion dol- lars to activist groups. To be sure, those groups do engage in hous- ing counseling and related activities, but those activities are most helpful to families still in their homes. What about the millions of Americans who have already lost their homes? I know the Department of Justice responds that the mandatory donation provisions represent only a small portion of the consumer relief packages which total in the billions, but tell that to Jeff and Robin Brown. After the Chrysler plant in Newark, Delaware closed (1) 2 in 2009, they fell on hard times. Frustrating attempts to renego- tiate their mortgage with Citi was were fruitless. They lost $3,000 to a loan assistance scam, then they received an eviction notice. The request for two extra weeks so Robin could recover from a setback with her multiple sclerosis was denied. So they looked at what they could and they took what they were able and departed the home they had saved for and lived in for 8 years. As a result of the settlement, they got a check from Citi for $500. Their experience is detailed, along with others,
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