Wells Fargo to send refunds to troops, veterans
JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday announced new programs geared toward military customers and veterans, and apologized for overcharging thousands of active-duty service members on mortgages, and improperly foreclosing on more than a dozen.
The steps include a program making certain military personnel eligible for reduced-rate mortgages; enhancing a mortgage modification program for personnel who are having trouble making payments; and a pledge not to foreclose on any active personnel while they’re deployed.
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said those programs and other initiatives “are a start, but in no way a finish” to address the bank’s recent missteps involving military clients.
“This company has a great history of honoring military and veterans, and the mistakes we made on military foreclosures are a painful aberration on that track record,” Dimon said in a news release. “We deeply apologize to our military customers and their families for these mistakes. We cannot undo them, but we can take accountability for them, fix them and learn from them.”
The New York-based company admitted the mistakes last month, including breaking a law that limits fees and interest charged to active-duty service members. Service members on active duty can’t be charged more than 6 percent for most debts that they incur before they are deployed. Their homes can’t be foreclosed on until after they return from active duty.
On Feb. 1, the head of a new government office charged with protecting military personnel from financial tricks and traps wrote CEOs of the 25 biggest mortgage banks. In the letters, Holly Petraeus said the CEOs needed to make sure their employees understand military legal protections. Petraeus heads the Office of Servicemember Affairs within the government’s new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Her letter came after the violations involving mortgage rates and foreclosures were reported by NBC News.
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