Bank of America suspends foreclosure process in Maine

Bank of America suspends foreclosure process in Maine
Distressed home loan borrowers in the state of Maine will get a reprieve during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, due to the actions of Maine attorney general Janet Mills.
Mills announced this week that her department has negotiated a deal with both Bank of America and Ally Financial, the parent of GMAC Mortgage, to suspend current foreclosure activity in the state until Bank of America has submitted a full review of their foreclosure procedures.
GMAC followed suit, saying they would also temporarily halt foreclosures in the state until they submit their own procedures to the Attorney General.
While the action is seen as a positive step by both banks, Mills did not rule out the possibility of joining in class action lawsuits against the banks in the future.
“My office is receiving calls every day from homeowners,” Mills said. “My office will continue to insist that the banks devote more resources to loan modifications.”
Although only 100 homes may be affected by the decision, the Portland Press Herald reported that GMAC alone submitted 1,156 court foreclosure proceedings in the last five years in Maine, and that many of those could be called into question because of “robo-signing” techniques known to have been used by banks.
Last month, William Lund, Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, weighed in on the issue of state foreclosures as well, saying that his bureau had been become very concerned about the “unusually high level” of the number of foreclosure cases being filed in the state.
Bank of America officials did not officially comment on the report.