"Resolving claims of unfair and discriminatory lending practices, Sand Canyon, formerly known as Option One Mortgage Corporation, will modify thousands of Massachusetts homeowners’ loans and make a significant payment to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as part of a settlement valued at $125 million, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced. The settlement with AG Coakley’s Office was filed in Suffolk Superior Court. It requires the mortgage originator, a subsidiary of H&R Block Inc., to pay $9.8 million to the Commonwealth and to direct American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMSI), the current servicer of approximately 5,500 Option One loans in Massachusetts, to institute an aggressive loan modification program that will provide an estimated $115 million in additional relief.
“Option One made loans that it knew were likely to fail and it discriminated against African-American and Latino borrowers,” Attorney General Coakley said. “Its blatant disregard for prudent underwriting standards contributed to the economic downturn we still find ourselves in today. Like our other cases against mortgage lenders and their Wall Street facilitators, this case holds this corporation accountable and provides much needed relief to homeowners.”
Option One originated approximately 32,400 loans in Massachusetts between 2004 and 2007, at which point the subprime market collapsed and it ceased its lending operations nationwide. Many of Option One’s loans featured multiple “risk features” such as:
►Excessive debt-to-income (DTI) ratios;
►High loan-to-value ratios;
►Stated income or similar features that did not require borrowers to document their income or assets; and
►Underwriting that qualified borrowers based on their ability to make payments at an introductory, or “teaser,” interest rate instead of their ability to pay beyond the two- or three-year introductory period"...............READ MORE
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