MetLife-Fed Pact Eases Banking Exit

Wall Street Journal
August 7, 2012
Zibel, Alan; Scism, Leslie

MetLife Inc. has agreed to pay $3.2 million in fines to the Federal Reserve to resolve allegations of improper mortgage-foreclosure practices at its banking unit. In the fall of 2010, it was revealed that banks used "robo-signers" to file foreclosure documents without personally verifying the information. Since then, foreclosure practices at major lenders and mortgage firms have been under close watch. Because of the wave of foreclosures after the housing crisis, officials say banks did not properly review documents -- which led them to wrongfully deny loan aid and charge improper fees. As part of a nationwide settlement, the Fed also imposed $766.5 million in fines against five major banks: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Ally Financial. MetLife's penalty is small by comparison. In June, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved MetLife's application to terminate its status as a national bank if MetLife would remedy its home-foreclosure practices.
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