COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc., has filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court against Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray regarding what it asserts are unsupported allegations of unfair servicing practices made against them by Cordray in a pre-suit letter.
Cordray's office has refused to discuss its allegations, which pertain to AHMSI's customer service, loss mitigation and loan modification services, prior to a lawsuit against AHMSI.
"Given our strong commitment to keeping borrowers in their homes and the specific, positive feedback we have received from many Ohio state and non-profit agencies regarding our homeownership preservation efforts, AHMSI's management was dismayed when it received a letter last week from the Ohio Attorney General's office threatening to sue AHMSI for unfair servicing practices," Jordan Dorchuck, AHMSI Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, said.
"We offered to meet with representatives of the Attorney General in an attempt to resolve any issues they may have regarding our servicing practices.
"Rather than wait to be named as a defendant in a suit that AHMSI considers to be rash and without merit, we elected to petition an Ohio state court for a declaration that AHMSI's servicing practices are fully compliant with Ohio law.
"AHMSI is proud of its many successful efforts to assist distressed homeowners and looks forward to judicial resolution of any questions that any party might have about our performance. Although we respect the Attorney General's commitment to serve the people of Ohio, we are convinced that these allegations are entirely without merit, and intend to defend ourselves vigorously against them."
AHMSI was founded in April 2008 and specializes in servicing distressed residential mortgage loan portfolios. It services approximately 17,000 loans in Ohio and more than 500,000 loans nationwide, though it did not originate any of those loans.
More than 3,000 people are employed by AHMSI, many of whom, it says, were hired to support the company's foreclosure prevention efforts and to maintain a high customer service standard. AHMSI has also established processes for working with borrowers to resolve questions, concerns and complaints and actively worked with Ohio borrowers encountering difficulty in meeting their loan obligations.
AHMSI has entered into non-Home Affordable Modification Program loans with more than 2,200 Ohio customers since October 2008 and has 173 customers currently proceeding under HAMP trial modifications. AHMSI has also worked with 141 Ohio borrowers to sell their homes with a short payoff rather than proceeding to foreclosure.