Chase spends $2M to fix errors on military mortgages

By Tyler Hemstreet on January 21, 2011

This from Army Times: JPMorgan Chase is issuing checks totaling $2 million to 4,000 service members after discovering overcharges and errors in their mortgages.

"We made mistakes, we deeply regret them and are working to fix it in the hopes that this does not happen again," JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau said.

Fourteen service members were improperly forced into foreclosure. Chase has resolved 13 of cases and is working on the remaining one, Lemkau said.

The errors were made in the loans of service members who requested their rights under the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act and came to light after a Marine fighter pilot filed a lawsuit in federal court.

The law provides a number of protections to service members, including the right to require a bank to reduce interest rates to 6% on loans entered into before active-duty service or mobilization.

Marine Capt. Jonathon Rowles, now assigned to South Korea, alleges Chase committed a number of violations, including failing to give the proper effective date of the interest rate reduction, repeatedly requiring him to re-apply for protections, and trying to collect on inaccurate account balances.

Lemkau said Chase officials were aware of some of problems with service members before the lawsuit, "but the full-on review intensified" afterward.

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