review

Even in hard hit Tampa Bay, too few knew about the Independent Foreclosure Review process to make it successful

ST. PETERSBURG — After months of getting nowhere with complaints over the foreclosure of her home, Denise Lennon, 64, turned to what the government had touted as a check for bank abuses: the Independent Foreclosure Review.

But after volleys of paperwork and weeks more of waiting, Lennon’s hopes of a review just took a fatal hit. The $8.5 billion settlement announced by regulators Monday will absolve banks of foreclosure-abuse allegations and end the review.

Local attorneys, housing counselors and distressed homeowners said the abrupt end meant their attempts to secure a second opinion in foreclosure cases, many of which led to evictions, could bring them little relief.

Homeowners stand to receive a cut of the settlement money, ranging from hundreds of dollars up to $125,000, whether they filed for a review or not, the Federal Reserve said. But the size of individual payouts and whether they will adequately pay back people who lost their homes in error remain a mystery.

“Consumers put their time, their interest into this, and they just scrap it and walk away,” St. Petersburg foreclosure attorney Matt Weidner said. “It’s a slap in the face to consumers who filled out this paperwork to document wrongdoing, and they’re told it doesn’t matter.”

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