On June 30, 2011 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") issued important supervisory guidance to communicate the OCC’s expectations for the oversight and management of mortgage foreclosure activities by national banks. See OCC Bulletin 2011-29 (Jun. 30, 2011) (the “Guidance"). Most significantly, the Guidance requires that all national banks, by September 30, complete self-assessments of their foreclosure practices to ensure that the practices conform to the agency’s expectations. The self-assessments must include “testing and file reviews” of foreclosure activity. (All quotations in this Alert are from the Guidance or the OCC’s press release...(see alert below for links).

Background and Summary of the Guidance

The Guidance follows the so-called “horizontal review” by all of the federal banking agencies, including the OCC, of foreclosure practices at 14 of the nation’s largest depository institution mortgage servicers. As the Guidance explains, that review found weaknesses resulting in “unsafe and unsound practices and violations of applicable federal and state laws.” In April of this year, the OCC and other banking agencies entered into Consent Orders with each of the 14 institutions. The Consent Orders impose strict standards on foreclosure governance and processes, and require each institution to conduct a substantial file review of loans in foreclosure during the 2009-10 period.

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