HARRISBURG – The Department of Banking hailed the results of an examination of CitiFinancial mortgage practices that yielded a $1.25 million settlement involving 35 states. Pennsylvania will receive nearly $96,500; the second-largest share.
Led by the Massachusetts Division of Banks, the examination found that CitiFinancial had failed to report 91,127 residential mortgage loans to the federal government, as required by the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The reported data is used to eliminate possible discriminatory lending practices. The underreporting of the mortgage loans was apparently caused by an internal systems error at CitiFinancial that went undetected until the examination.
“Results like this prove that states can cooperate and that enforcement of both federal and state laws by state regulators is effective,” said Secretary of Banking Steve Kaplan. “I offer my congratulations to Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks Steve Antonakes.”
The Department of Banking urges consumers to “do their homework” before entering into business with any financial company, especially companies offering loan modifications.