By Joseph Santiesteban, J.D. Candidate 2014, U.C. Berkeley School of Law
David Moskowitz, Deputy General Counsel for Wells Fargo, Inc., just gave a presentation on the chronology of government programs that have been implemented since the beginning of the foreclosure crisis. The first government effort was Troubled Asset Relief Program, which in addition to “bailing out” banks, contained loan modification programs. Moskowitz also discussed the Home Affordable Modification Program, which was designed to help negative equity homeowners modify their mortgages through interest rate reduction, term extension, and principle forgiveness. Moskowitz also discussed the recent $25 billion robo-signing settlement. The settlement included $20 billion dedicated to homeowner relief and $5 billion to be used by each state for state-specific homeowner relief programs. The settlement also included new servicing standards and a compliance mechanism accomplished primarily through an independent monitor.