Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) are fighting it out in bankruptcy court to determine who gets control of mortgage payments and escrow checks that are currently ‘sitting in limbo,’ according to an FDIC court filing.
About 50,000 checks, frozen but totaling $1.9 billion, are at stake, according to an Ocala.com report. TBW is ‘holding hostage hundreds of thousands of homeowners,’ the FDIC's lawyers say, while TBW counsel David Dantzler says the now-shuttered lender is the most suitable party to manage the payments.
In Taylor Bean's motion, Dantzler says the company has the "systems, expertise and institutional knowledge required to perform these reconciliations and allocation activities."
Processing the checks would entitle TBW to collect servicing fees, he says.
The FDIC, meanwhile, contends that homeowners are at risk because of TBW's actions. In their court motion, the agency's attorneys said there have been examples of borrowers receiving notices about overdue real estate taxes and the possibility of canceled insurance policies.
‘The harm being caused to individual homeowners is an issue that has been continuously raised and pressed by regulators," the motion says.
SOURCE: Ocala.com
