Steven Mnuchin ‘Helped Us’

“Mnuchin led a consortium of investors that purchased the troubled bank IndyMac from the federal government in 2009, acquiring a $13.9 billion portfolio of some of the nation’s shoddiest loans for about $1.6 billion. Tara Bradshaw, a spokeswoman for Mnuchin, said about 178,000 loans were already in the foreclosure process when he took over the bank and renamed it OneWest. Bradshaw said he oversaw 101,000 mortgage modification offers, some of which forgave part of borrowers' principal balance.” (Washington Post, 12/30/16)

FAITH SCHWARTZ, Former Executive Director, HOPE Now Alliance: “I write in connection with the nomination of Steven Mnuchin to be Secretary of the Treasury. I do not know Mr. Mnuchin, but as the former executive director of the HOPE NOW Alliance, I am intimately familiar with the loan modification and home retention programs of OneWest Bank, which have played such a prominent role in the media coverage of Mr. Mnuchin's nomination. I therefore wanted to make sure that the Committee has accurate facts as it considers this important nomination.” (Faith Schwartz, Letter To Sens. Hatch & Wyden, 1/13/17)

• SCHWARTZ: “Treasury Department reports on loan modifications show that OneWest offered more than 101,000 loan modifications to struggling homeowners. And when OneWest offered loan modifications, its offers included principal forgiveness as much as five times more often industry averages. Its loan modifications also stood out for sustainability: The rate at which its trial modifications were converted to permanent modifications was 91 percent, the highest rate in the industry.” (Faith Schwartz, Letter To Sens. Hatch & Wyden, 1/13/17)

• SCHWARTZ: “Under Mr. Mnuchin's leadership… OneWest Bank joined early and took an active and leading role in rolling out homeowner assistance programs to its borrowers. In fact, OneWest was an early adopter of numerous voluntary loan modification programs, reflecting both the company's cultural commitment to home retention and Mr. Mnuchin's personal commitment to the FDIC to vigorously pursue foreclosure avoidance options wherever possible. For example, OneWest was one of the first banks to adopt the Principal Reduction Alternative, an optional part of the federal HAMP program under which participating servicers reduced borrower principal (nonparticipating institutions only reduced borrower interest rates, which was found to be a less sustainable model for borrowers whose loan balances exceeded their property value). OneWest also was an early adopter of the 2MP program, which allowed servicers to modify qualifying second mortgages. OneWest was not required to offer any of these benefits to borrowers, and not all servicers adopted these programs. But OneWest’s loan retention staff, as well as leadership, were committed to avoiding foreclosures where possible and were tremendous industry partners. To me, OneWest's consistent adoption of new home retention innovations spoke volumes about the company's commitment in this important area.” (Faith Schwartz, Letter To Sens. Hatch & Wyden, 1/13/17)

FAITH BAUTISTA, CEO National Asian American Coalition: “Although we and many other communities opposed many of the IndyMac policies and practices, including reverse mortgages and foreclosures, we recognized the crisis in 2008. We therefore reluctantly accepted the decision of the FDIC to sell IndyMac to the only investors interested in making a bid. ... We personally witnessed Mr. Mnuchin's actions to protect homeowners during this time by offering them loan modifications. … As a result of the actions of Mr. Mnuchin described above, and his commitment to further work on behalf of communities of color, the National Asian American Coalition was able to gather more than 1,000 individual signatures in support of his nomination.” (Faith Bautista, Letter To U.S. Senators, 1/3/17)

VALBUENA FAMILY: ‘We were very grateful that our loan got modified’ “My family’s residential home was with Indymac bank.  My father, Rene Valbuena was the borrower.  My father was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and we could not afford to pay for our mortgage payment since he was one of the main income provider[s].  We submitted our loan modification request and submitted what was needed for the process.  The communication was good and we were not passed around from one representative to another.  After 2 months, we got our approval for our trial modification. We continued to pay the new modified monthly payment and it became permanent after 3 months trial period.  We were very grateful that our loan got modified.” (Valbuena Family, Letter To U.S. Senators, 1/15/17)

REYES FAMILY: ‘One West Bank helped us’ “My name is Elpidio Delos Reyes and Nida Delos Reyes...  Our family asked for a loan modification from One West Bank on November, 2011 through the help of National Asian American Coalition.  We were pleased with the process of how our paperwork was handled.  We were never given any problem[s] by One West Bank.  They were assigned with only One Single Point of Contact which makes it a lot easier and the process went smoothly. Because … One West Bank helped us… we recommend Steven Mnuchin to be the Secretary of the Treasury.” (Reyes Family, Letter To U.S. Senators, 1/16/17)