Casey, Specter, Holden Urge Banks to Help Lancaster, Berks and Schuylkill Area Homeowners

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Congressman Tim Holden (D-PA) wrote to the CEOs of six banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, all of which are involved in the OPFM Inc. fraud cases, asking executives to report on their efforts to assist the 811 homeowners who are in jeopardy of losing their homes.  The letter is a follow-up to a hearing in Harrisburg last week where both the victims and executives representing their institutions testified about a massive mortgage-based ponzi scheme.

“We urge you to think expansively and creatively, and to put yourselves in the shoes of the families that have been hurt by this outrageous scheme.  Again, we request that you report back to us with some constructive proposals for providing assistance,” the members wrote. 

 

Full text of the letter is included:

 

Dear:

We thank you again for testifying at the hearing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on December 10, 2007.  The gathering was an opportunity for us, and more importantly, the 811 families who were victimized by Wesley Snyder, to hear what you are doing to alleviate the distress many of them face and to help keep them in their homes.  Your willingness to send a representative demonstrates a commitment to assisting distressed homeowners during the current mortgage crisis.

We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that we believe you have a moral obligation to do more for these 811 homeowners.  Since it appears that restitution from Mr. Snyder is unlikely, we ask that your institutions explore additional options for helping the families victimized by Mr. Snyder.  We urge you to think expansively and creatively, and to put yourselves in the shoes of the families that have been hurt by this outrageous scheme.  Again, we request that you report back to us with some constructive proposals for providing assistance.

In addition, we urge you to take all actions necessary to ensure that these homeowners are being treated fairly.  Although we expressed a desire not to interfere in the pending litigation, we are aware that the federal district court has entered an order requiring that you accept certain payments in satisfaction of their mortgage obligations and that you not initiate foreclosure proceedings against them until at least January 31, 2008.  We have received disturbing reports that some of your institutions may not be in compliance with this order.  For example, a number of homeowners have reported that they have received delinquency notices despite making payments as required by the court’s order.  We hope that these are isolated incidents that will be quickly rectified and not repeated. 

We ask that you report to us regarding your efforts to assist these homeowners by January 4, 2008. 

 

Sincerely,

Robert P. Casey, Jr., U.S. Senator; Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator; and Tim Holden, U.S. Congressman

  

The executives include:

 

Mr. Kerry Killinger
Chairman and CEO
Washington Mutual, Inc.

Mr. Sterling Edmunds, Jr.
President and CEO
SunTrust Bank

Mr. James Dimon
Chairman and CEO
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Mr. Bill Beckmann
CEO, Consumer Lending Group
Citigroup

Mr. R. Angelo Mozilo
Chairman and CEO
Countrywide Financial

Mr. John Stumpf
President and CEO
Wells Fargo

Mr. Richard F. Syron

Chairman and CEO

Freddie Mac

 

Mr. Daniel H. Mudd
President and CEO
Fannie Mae

  

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