View all text of Part B [§ 1631 - § 1651]
§ 1639a. Duty of servicers of residential mortgages
(a) In generalNotwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever a servicer of residential mortgages agrees to enter into a qualified loss mitigation plan with respect to 1 or more residential mortgages originated before May 20, 2009, including mortgages held in a securitization or other investment vehicle—
(1) to the extent that the servicer owes a duty to investors or other parties to maximize the net present value of such mortgages, the duty shall be construed to apply to all such investors and parties, and not to any individual party or group of parties; and
(2) the servicer shall be deemed to have satisfied the duty set forth in paragraph (1) if, before December 31, 2012, the servicer implements a qualified loss mitigation plan that meets the following criteria:
(A) Default on the payment of such mortgage has occurred, is imminent, or is reasonably foreseeable, as such terms are defined by guidelines issued by the Secretary of the Treasury or his designee under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 [12 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.].
(B) The mortgagor occupies the property securing the mortgage as his or her principal residence.
(C) The servicer reasonably determined, consistent with the guidelines issued by the Secretary of the Treasury or his designee, that the application of such qualified loss mitigation plan to a mortgage or class of mortgages will likely provide an anticipated recovery on the outstanding principal mortgage debt that will exceed the anticipated recovery through foreclosures.
(b) No liability
(c) Standard industry practice
(d) Scope of safe harbor
(e) Reporting
(f) DefinitionsAs used in this section—
(1) the term “qualified loss mitigation plan” means—
(A) a residential loan modification, workout, or other loss mitigation plan, including to the extent that the Secretary of the Treasury determines appropriate, a loan sale, real property disposition, trial modification, pre-foreclosure sale, and deed in lieu of foreclosure, that is described or authorized in guidelines issued by the Secretary of the Treasury or his designee under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 [12 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.]; and
(B) a refinancing of a mortgage under the Hope for Homeowners program;
(2) the term “servicer” means the person responsible for the servicing for others of residential mortgage loans (including of a pool of residential mortgage loans); and
(3) the term “securitization vehicle” means a trust, special purpose entity, or other legal structure that is used to facilitate the issuing of securities, participation certificates, or similar instruments backed by or referring to a pool of assets that includes residential mortgages (or instruments that are related to residential mortgages such as credit-linked notes).
(g) Rule of construction
(Pub. L. 90–321, title I, § 129A, as added Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title IV, § 1403, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2809; renumbered § 129 and amended Pub. L. 111–22, div. A, title II, § 201(b), May 20, 2009, 123 Stat. 1638; renumbered § 129A, Pub. L. 111–203, title XIV, § 1402(a)(1), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2138.)