Banks’ plans to fix foreclosure malpractices will remain confidential

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, and some of the nation’s other largest banks, have submitted plans to rectify mortgage servicing operations and halt progress over several months to settle accusations of abuse related to mortgage servicing. Those plans will remain confidential, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, despite calls from some on Capitol Hill to publish the information, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Each bank was required to hire an independent consultant to review all foreclosure proceedings from 2009 and 2010 to evaluate whether they improperly foreclosed on any homeowners.

Democrats, longtime critics of the OCC’s “too friendly” attitude towards the banks, have concerns about the fairness of the process, the Journal said, and are pushing for the findings of the reviews to be made public.

“There is a loss of credibility by the regulators — specifically by the OCC — that more disclosure would address,” Rep. Brad Miller said. “We’re still at a stage where we have a hope of shaping [the look-back process] to make it tough and appropriately independent.”

Bank regulators previously extended the deadline for the 14 financial institutions to submit plans. Instructions issued in April gave the institutions until mid-June to instigate plans after widespread problems with bank foreclosure processing operations became public last fall. That deadline was then extended to July 13. [WSJ]