New York Paralegal Blog

A former employee of Countrywide Home Loan was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution Wednesday in connection with a large-scale data breach, announced André Birotte Jr., the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, and Steven Martinez, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 450,177 refund checks worth almost $108 million to homeowners who were allegedly overcharged by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. As part of the FTC’s efforts to protect financially distressed homeowners, the FTC reached a settlement with Countrywide last year over allegations that the company collected excessive fees from borrowers who were struggling to keep their homes. “It’s astonishing that a single company could be responsible for overcharging more than 450,000 homeowners,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. “Countrywide’s unconscionable behavior harmed American consumers on a massive scale and we are proud to be getting every single dollar back to hundreds of thousands of struggling consumers who can least afford to lose the money.”

WASHINGTON– The U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) has successfully resolved litigation against Countrywide Home Loans Inc. in its ongoing efforts to protect homeowners in bankruptcy, Clifford J. White III, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees, announced today. Over a two-year period, the USTP worked closely with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to carry out parallel investigations relating to Countrywide’s improper conduct in servicing home loans.