Dual Tracking Continues Could Cost Banks Millions in Fines

Dual Tracking continues as a popular practice among banks and servicers despite having promised the usual, “no, no, we won’t do it again if you just leave us alone … really … trust us … we promise this time.”

The five big banks had agreed to certain terms and conditions as part of the $25 billion mortgage settlement. One of those promises was to stop the foreclosure techniques of stop dual tracking – simply put; one office or department continues to push the foreclosure while the other negotiates a modification. As a result the homeowner gets pushed out of their home from the bank they thought was trying to help them save their home.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial have until Wednesday to implement hundreds of "servicing" reforms mandated by the settlement, or face penalties of up to $1 million per occurrence.

Here are the responses to HuffPost from the individual banks on the progress they've made comlying with the terms of the settlement :

We have met all servicing standards requirements on time and will meet remaining requirements under the settlement," said Bank of America spokesman Richard Simon in a statement. "Bank of America has and will continue to work with urgency to help our customers avoid foreclosure."

Wells Fargo has met its requirement to implement the servicing standards outlined in the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement that was announced last February," a spokeswoman said.

A JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman said the bank had met all 320 servicing reforms. "This has been an enormous effort, as the standards cover all aspects of the servicing business, and cover such matters as single point of contact, customer service, loss mitigation, anti-blight and tenants rights," she said.

GMAC Mortgage, which is a subsidiary of Ally Financial, said: "GMAC Mortgage is working closely with the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight to ensure compliance with all aspects of the settlement, subject to internal and external independent validation."