Committee hears of mortgage lender abuses

WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- Mortgage companies are frequently mismanaging accounts both inside and outside of U.S. bankruptcy courts, a law professor told an oversight committee.

University of Iowa professor Katharine Porter told members of the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts that bankruptcy court "is supposed to offer families one last chance to save their homes from foreclosure."

In a review of 1,700 Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings, Porter found that lenders frequently tacked on questionable fees and misstated the amounts owed, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Homeowner Robin Atchley told committee members Countrywide Financial tried to foreclose on her home in bankruptcy court twice, even though she and her husband were current on their payments.

When the couple later sold their Georgia home, Countrywide said the amount owed was $14,200 higher than what they had claimed in court, Atchley told the committee Tuesday.

"We will not stand for the continued abuse of homeowners who have worked hard and played by the rules of bankruptcy, said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the subcommittee chairman.