Yesterday we republished an article and video from The Uptake, one of our media partners, that was headlined, “A tale of two US Bank-Occupy foreclosures raises racial questions.” That headline and the article were in error.

Tom Joyce, Senior Vice President and Director of Public Relations at U.S. Bancorp, called me today to tell me that this article was in error and to express anger over the charge that U.S. Bank was engaged in racially-motivated actions. In a subsequent e-mail, he provided details about why it is unfair to charge U.S. Bank with responsibility for these two cases:

Monique White: U.S. Bank originated the loan,— but sold the loan to Freddie Mac more than six years ago (in 2005). Once that happened, we, as the servicer, were required to strictly follow Freddie’s servicing guidelines. Based on those guidelines, the house was foreclosed on in January 2011. The home has been the property of Freddie Mac. As such, we have had no authority to rewrite the terms of the loan. … We have repeatedly explained to Ms. White and Occupy Minnesota that we are not the servicer on this loan and have no authority to take any action. We also explained that Freddie Mac is the owner of the now foreclosed property, and the one that would take any eviction action.

Bobby Hull: This loan is one of many in a trust for which U.S. Bank serves as the trustee for the investors. We did not originate the loan, nor are we the servicer on the mortgage. As such, we have no ownership of this home, no economic interest in the loan, no authority to take any action on the mortgage - nor would we know of any potential modification. Bank of America is the servicer and as is the only entity with the authority to negotiate a loan modification with Mr. Hull. If a deal was reached with Mr. Hull, it was with Bank of America. 

In regard to Monique White, Brad German at Freddie Mac confirmed: “The foreclosure process, which was completed more than a year ago, transferred title to FM and extinguished the mortgage, which records show had gone unpaid since 6/1/09.” German said that he was 

”not aware of any changes to our plan to secure the house and sell it in order to offset our losses on the mortgage.”

In regard to Bobby Hull, Jumana Bauwens of Bank of America confirmed that “We are the ones that offered the modification as servicer.  We are in the process of completing the paperwork.”

- Mary Turck, Twin Cities Daily Planet editor

Click here to read The Uptake’s correction notice and our corrections policy.