WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of a new lawsuit aimed at 13 banks who have allegedly charged veterans with illegal fees to refinance their home loans, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for action from the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In a letter sent today to Attorney General Eric Holder and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Brown – who chairs the Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection – called on the agencies to release full information on any internal investigations and responses to the suit.
“No consumer should be forced to pay illegal fees, but it is particularly disgraceful to impose such extraction schemes on our veterans,” Brown said in the letter to Holder and Shinseki. “It is important to ensure that your agencies are remaining vigilant in your protection of those who have served our nation in uniform.
Ohio is home to 930,000 military veterans and has the eighth highest rate of home foreclosures this year. A full copy of Brown’s letter can be found below:
October 5, 2011
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20420
Dear Attorney General Holder and Secretary Shinseki:
Addressing housing and foreclosure issues is of utmost importance to my home state of Ohio, particularly when they affect men and women – who after serving in our nation’s – purchased their homes through the home loans supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs. My state is home to 930,000 veterans. It also has the eighth highest rate of home foreclosures this year. That is why I am troubled by recent reports that mortgage companies may be abusing the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country.
In February, we learned that our nation’s largest banks have for years been foreclosing on deployed servicemembers’ homes and overcharging interest on their debts, in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The Acting Comptroller of the Currency testified to the Banking Committee that some foreclosure sales by the largest servicers should not have proceeded because borrowers were covered by the SCRA. At that time, I urged the Justice Department to use its full legal authority to commence civil action against offenders of the SCRA and provide justice to those who serve our country.
Yesterday, we learned that abuses of veterans may run even deeper than we previously knew. Several publications have reported on claims brought in Federal Court alleging that some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers packed illegal fees into home refinancing loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. No consumer should be forced to pay illegal fees, but it is particularly disgraceful to impose such schemes on our veterans.
It is important to ensure that your agencies remain vigilant in protecting our veterans:
• Have the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs investigated these alleged violations? If not, why not?
• What have the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs found regarding these alleged violations?
• What actions will the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs take to respond to these alleged violations? If none, please explain.
Our nation has long recognized that protecting the financial security of our veterans and their families is essential to our national security. Last year, Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, containing an Office of Servicemember Affairs. The creation of this new Office does not reduce the responsibility of existing federal agencies to protect the financial wellbeing of our men and women in uniform. I urge your agencies to take swift action to do so.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
United States Senator
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