Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, July 6, 2011 - Two Financial Services subcommittees will hold a joint hearing on Thursday, July 7 to review the role of Federal regulators in the ongoing mortgage servicing settlement negotiations and the development of new mortgage servicing standards.  Witnesses will include regulators from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and two state attorneys general.

The joint hearing is being conducted by the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said, “Beginning last September, complaints surfaced that some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing firms had improperly looked for ways to speed through paperwork and hasten the foreclosure process.  Since then, these allegations of sloppy documentation and other procedural irregularities have received extensive scrutiny from state attorneys general, trial lawyers, Federal regulatory agencies and law enforcement.  Members of the Committee have many questions about the ongoing settlement process and we look forward to getting clear answers at this hearing.”

Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito said, “Since we first heard reports of charges that major mortgage servicers were not doing proper due diligence in their mortgage servicing practices, many questions  and concerns have been raised about the role of federal regulators in strengthening oversight of this industry.  This hearing will examine the role of each federal regulator in the ongoing settlement and national servicing standards negotiations, whether there is a need for national servicing standards, what progress has already been made by servicers to improve their practices, and to provide a better overview of the ongoing settlement negations.”

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Randy Neugebauer said, “The housing crisis demands serious attention and difficult policy choices. However, I remain concerned that the potential terms of  a servicing settlement being negotiated by state attorneys general could create incentives to default that could worsen the housing crisis and impede an economic recovery. This hearing will provide the necessary oversight to determine whether the global settlement being negotiated is appropriate and necessary.”

The joint hearing will take place on Thursday, July 7 at 10 a.m. in room 2128 Rayburn.

Witnesses scheduled to testify:
Panel I:
Julie Williams, First Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Mark Pearce, Director, Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Raj Date, Associate Director of Research, Markets, and Regulation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Luther Strange, Alabama Attorney General
TBA, State Attorney General

Panel II
David Stevens, President, Mortgage Bankers Association
Michael Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending