In order to better serve your community, we ask that you please help U.S. Bank identify and prioritize the most important needs that impact low- and moderate-income individuals and families, economically distressed neighborhoods and small businesses, as well as, opportunities to help meet these needs.  Your opinions and feedback are important and will be kept strictly confidential.

If you have already completed the survey, thank you for your feedback and time.  If you haven’t yet completed the survey, we would like to hear from you.  In order to include your opinions in this study, we ask that you complete this survey by August 10, 2012.

To begin the survey, please click on the following link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/966923/Community-Needs

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback.

A new study from the Principal Financial Group finds that one-on-one financial counseling during work hours works wonders.

Positive outcomes were many; employees became more engaged in their financial affairs and saved more. 

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/07/19/new-evidence-says-workplace-financial-education-effective/?utm_source=What+You+Need+to+Know+NOW+About+Money&utm_campaign=dcf873ddfa-July_2012_Issue_2_7_30_2012&utm_medium=email

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation that ends the practice of foreclosing on a home while a loan modification is being considered (“dual track”), reforms bank’s foreclosure practices, and creates a fairer foreclosure process for California’s homeowners. And, importantly, the legislation allows consumers to take banks to court to enforce these rights. This is a major victory for California! The Governor’s signature came after the California State Assembly and Senate both voted last week to pass these bills. None of this would have happened without the tireless work of many California groups—nonprofit housing counselors, public interest lawyers, faith-based groups, organizers, online organizing groups, and consumer and policy groups.
Thank you to all who supported our advocacy efforts!

July 2, 2012— California’s State Legislature voted today to pass the Homeowner Bill of Rights, legislation introduced by Attorney General Kamala Harris and championed by consumer advocates and homeowners. The California Foreclosure Reduction Act— AB 278 (Eng, Feuer, Mitchell) & SB 900 (Leno, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Evans, Pavley, Steinberg)—passed 53-25 in the Assembly and 24-13 in the Senate this afternoon. The bill now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature.

This law will institute sensible reforms to bank’s foreclosure practices and create a fairer foreclosure process for California’s homeowners. Most significantly, this law ends the “dual track” process, where banks foreclose on homeowners while they are negotiating for a loan modification with their bank. Now, banks are required to give homeowners a “yes” or “no” answer on a loan modification application before continuing with foreclosure, thereby giving homeowners a fair chance at preventing foreclosure. With this law in place, if a loan modification is accepted, the bank will rescind the notice of default or sale, allowing homeowners to pay their loans without the looming threat of foreclosure. And if a loan modification is denied, homeowners will not be blindsided by a sale notice, because banks are now required to send a letter to the borrower describing the reason for denial and letting the borrower know of his or her right to appeal that denial to the servicer.

In addition to ending “dual track”, this legislation requires all banks to end “robosigning” and provide a single point of contact to borrowers. Homeowners will no longer have to speak to a different person at the bank every time they call and resubmit the same mountain of paperwork to different people at the same institution. 

If a bank cannot follow these simple procedural rules, California homeowners will be able to enforce their rights by taking the bank to court. This will encourage servicers to follow the law, and when they do not, it will allow victimized homeowners to get their homes back where possible, or get some financial relief.

Many of the provisions in the legislation were embodied in the National Mortgage Settlement that 49 Attorneys General signed with the five big banks earlier this year. The legislation extends the impact of the Settlement so that all homeowners in California, regardless of which bank services of their loan, have the same protections and rights. This legislation should serve as a national model for other states looking to enforce the Settlement and protect their homeowners.

*California Reinvestment Coalition

CRC successfully negotiated with Union Bank to increase the bank’s community commitments in light of their acquisition of Santa Barbara Bank and Trust.  Over the last decade, Union Bank has grown to become the fourth biggest bank in California by deposit market share, with over 400 branches statewide and more in neighboring states.  Santa Barbara Bank and Trust has 48 branches, making it the largest local bank serving the Central Coast counties and the 20th largest bank by deposits in California.

When Union Bank announced that it planned to purchase Pacific Capital Bancorp, owner of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, CRC’s members quickly mobilized to raise community concerns and banking needs of low income communities and communities of color in California.  Smaller regional banks like Santa Barbara Bank and Trust are local community anchors for affordable housing developers and small and minority-owned businesses. CRC must be vigilant in preserving the community reinvestment commitments made by these smaller banks.

Union Bank’s responsiveness to community concerns led to a negotiated commitment that will bring positive investments and services to communities that Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and Union Bank serve and plan to serve. As a result, Union Bank has made strong commitments to increase small business lending and support for technical assistance, adopt a low-cost and transparent checking account, and increase grants that support community development efforts in California.

 As a result of CRC’s advocacy, Union Bank will, through 2014:

• Increase originations of small loans (under $150,000) to small businesses (those earning under $1 million in annual revenue), businesses located in low and moderate income census areas, and minority and women owned businesses. 

• Invest in Community Development Financial Institutions and Community Development Corporations that strengthen small business creation and growth.

• Increase support for technical assistance and credit assistance providers serving these businesses and referrals of denied small business loan applicants to organizations that can provide financing to enhance loan worthiness. The bank is also extending its diversity supplier program into the SBBT service area.

• Provide $2.5 million to help nonprofit agencies acquire and rehabilitate housing; increase support for homebuyer education; and provide $10 million to support predevelopment activities necessary to increase the affordable housing stock. 

• Create a low cost banking account product that will be transparent and affordable for low and moderate income communities, the unbanked, or customers simply seeking a lower cost product.

• Honor commitments made by SBBT to its local partners, such as through the Federal Home Loan Bank WISH program.

• Provide grants to support community development, at least at $10 million, increasing to $11 million in 2013 and $12 million in 2014. 

The new Union Bank Commitment is forward-looking, specific, and forged in collaboration with community groups as equal stakeholders. This negotiation provides an excellent model of the benefits of productive dialog between banks, regulators, and nonprofit community organizations at the time of a merger. Communities are better served when all of these stakeholders work together. The Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency should encourage banks in their merger and acquisition applications to follow the model.

Springboard is encouraging consumers to jump-start their savings program by participating in America Saves Week, the campaign that occurs annually to encourage better savings habits. This year, America Saves Week is recognized February 19-26. 

 “It’s never too late to begin good financial habits,” says Melinda Opperman, senior vice president for Springboard.  “Reducing debt and building wealth will pay big dividends in the end.  America Saves Week is the perfect time to get started,” says Opperman. 

 Springboard has developed useful online tools to help consumers reach their savings goal.  You can access http://credit.org/blog/americasavesweek for effective how-to-save-tactics, savings calculators, online courses, videos, worksheets and budget planners.  Please feel free to share this information with family and friends.

Wells Fargo started an incentive program that pays its single-point-of-contact employees more if they reach some sort of workout in lieu of foreclosure.

Mortgage servicers must install single points of contact for borrowers on the verge of foreclosure, based on federal regulator consent orders signed in 2011, new Home Affordable Modification Program guidelines and the servicing standards set as part of the attorneys general settlement in February.

Wells officials said they installed such a program before even the consent orders. The San Francisco-based bank now has between 3,500 and 3,800 employees that serve as the point of contact for troubled mortgage borrowers, said Randy Bockenstedt, senior vice president of default operations at Wells.

“Wells Fargo does have an incentive program. But you don’t play the incentive game without doing it the right way,” Bockenstedt said at the Mortgage Bankers Association servicing conference Wednesday. “Quality is king.”

Bockenstedt wouldn’t disclose how exactly the Wells SPOC employees are paid or when the program was put in place.

One servicer who asked not to be named shook his head at the size of the Wells SPOC headcount.

“3,500,” he said. “That’s huge.”

“It’s not cheap,” Bockenstedt admitted.

The bank’s servicing performance over competitors cannot be linked directly to the incentive program, but the results are there. According to its fourth-quarter financial report, roughly 7.63% of the loans on the Wells Fargo servicing portfolio were either in foreclosure or delinquency, compared to 11.5% at JPMorgan Chase ($38.18 -0.28%) and 13.5% at Bank of America ($8.08 -0.03%).

The 16-month robo-signing saga ends with a $26 billion settlement.

Nearly all 50 states agreed to a deal with Bank of America ($8.13 0%), JPMorgan Chase ($38.30 0%), Wells Fargo ($30.63 0%), Ally Financial ($23.31 0%) and Citigroup ($34.23 0%). Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt is the only one not to sign.

If another nine smaller servicers join the settlement, the deal could rise to $30 billion.

Evidence arose showing these firms and their processors allegedly signed foreclosure documents en masse without a proper review of the loan file, evicted homeowners while in the modification process, and other abuses.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller led a multistate coalition with the Justice Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development beginning in October 2010. Since then, a settlement has been perpetually imminent as negotiations dragged on in the largest federal settlement with a single industry since a deal with tobacco companies in 1998.

Roughly $5 billion of the funds will be used as $2,000 payouts to hundreds of thousands of borrowers affected by the abuses and were foreclosed on between the beginning of 2008 and the end of 2011. A portion of the $5 billion will also go to the states.

Nearly 8.9 million properties recieved at least one foreclosure filing since 2007, according to RealtyTrac.

Another $17 billion will be used as “credits” toward writing down principal on roughly 1 million loans mainly held in the bank servicing portfolios. However, officials said some of the principal reductions will go toward mortgages in private-label securities, meaning investors will take some of the hit. However, the “credits” would be significantly less for mortgages held in private MBS holdings.

Banks must comply with any pooling and servicing agreements with investors, meaning before a servicer can write down principal on a mortgage in a privately held MBS, it must pass the net-present value test. Only “a couple” of the servicers would do this, officials said.

Roughly $10 billion of the $17 billion held for principal reduction credits will go to borrowers who are delinquent on their mortgages.

Not every dollar the servicers reduce from the principal will be “credited” from the $17 billion the banks agreed to. For every dollar forgiven, roughly 50 cents or less will be credited under the $17 billion number. Officials said the settlement would ultimately result in an estimated $45 billion in total principal reductions.

Another $3 billion will be spent on refinancing borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. The servicers will send plans to an oversight monitor to be determined on how they would solicit borrowers for the refinance program.

One unnamed servicer will send $1 billion cash to the Federal Housing Administration as part of the settlement.

The servicers are required to complete the fixes within three years. The AGs built in incentives for relief provided within the first 12 months. The servicers are required to reach 75 percent of their targets within the first two years. Servicers that miss settlement targets and deadlines will be required to pay “substantial” cash amounts.

California and New York were in deep negotiations well night Wednesday.

California will get $18 billion of the agreement. California AG Kamala Harris left the multistate negotiations last September when the estimated relief to the state was $4 billion.

“California families will finally see substantial relief after experiencing so much pain from the mortgage crisis,” Harris said. “Hundreds of thousands of homeowners will directly benefit from this California commitment.”

New York will receive $648 million in assistance from foreclosure settlement, including $495 million for principal reductions.

The settlement also establishes servicing standards similar to those agreed to in the federal consent orders signed last year. Robo-signing, and dual-track foreclosures are forbidden and new processes are required to be put in place in order to clean up lost paperwork and oversight of document processors.

“In the past it’s been a dysfunctional system. This set of guidelines has the potential to change all that,” said Iowa AG Tom Miller. “I have a message for the banks. This is an opportunity for you to change things for the benefit of the homeonwers, the investors, yourself and your reputation.”

The settlement will also clear participating AGs to work with a federal fraud task force.

New York AG Eric Schneiderman will co-chair a task force with the Justice Department and HUD, reversed his previous decision to not sign onto the foreclosure deal. He was removed from the central negotiation committee last year when he tried to expand the scope of the investigation into securitization and other issues. His task force, along with California AG Kamala Harris and several other AGs, will look into secondary market and other fraud outside of the robo-signing probe.

Also as part of the deal, Schneiderman will not have to drop his suit against the banks for their use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.

“This historic settlement will provide immediate relief to homeowners – forcing banks to reduce the principal balance on many loans, refinance loans for underwater borrowers, and pay billions of dollars to states and consumers,” said HUD Secretary Donovan. “Banks must follow the laws. Any bank that hasn’t done so should be held accountable and should take prompt action to correct its mistakes. And it will not end with this settlement.”

The Treasury Department said it expects mortgage servicers to begin evaluating borrowers under an expanded Home Affordable Modification Program in May.

The latest program is being referred to as HAMP 2.5.

In January, the Treasury extended the application deadline to the end of 2013, eased debt-to-income requirements, allowed investors with rental homes into the program, and announced it would pay investors triple for principal reductions. While the administration wouldn’t estimate how many borrowers could be allowed into the program as a result of the changes, bank analysts said it could net roughly 500,000 extra modifications.

Roughly $29.9 billion in TARP funds have been allocated for HAMP and other foreclosure prevention programs, but only $2.3 billion has been spent as of Dec. 31. Some of the remaining amount will be spent on the expanded program.

Participating servicers started roughly 325,000 permanent modifications in 2011, down 34% from more than 423,000 started the year before, according to an analysis of Treasury data released Monday.

In 2010, servicers began making improvements from paltry workout numbers. HAMP launched in March 2009, and by December of that year, only 67,000 three-month trials had been converted to permanent status. In February 2010, servicers converted 63,000 trials alone.

The Treasury tightened documentation requirements and began evaluating servicer performance, even witholding HAMP payments from some servicers. Many, including the Special Inspector General of TARP said the administration should do more to crack down on the worst performers.

“The decline in permanent modification starts is due, at least in part, to the shrinking eligible borrower pool,” said Isaac Boltansky, a policy analyst at Compass Point.

At the end of October 2010, roughtly 1.5 million borrowers were eligible for HAMP modifications, according to the Treasury. A year later, about 890,000 borrowers were eligible.

“This represents almost a 40% reduction in eligible borrowers year-over-year and is exactly why the Obama administration announced that it will make eligibility changes to the HAMP. The specifics of how Treasury intends to alter or augment the debt-to-income formula for the HAMP could result in a meaningful increase in borrower eligibility for the program,” Boltansky said.

Servicers started roughly 4,500 HAMP modifications that included principal reductions in December.

The Treasury said trials started in June will begin reflecting the latest HAMP changes, which include higher principal reduction payments.

“The recent enhancements we have announced will bring further assistance to homeowners, renters and their communities as our nation continues to heal from an unprecedented housing crisis,” said Treasury Assistant Secretary Tim Massad.