JPMorgan’s Dimon Says Bank Will Pay for Foreclosure Mistakes
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the second- biggest U.S. bank by assets, will pay for errors it made in processing foreclosure paperwork on defaulted home loans, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said.
“Some of the mistakes were egregious and they’re embarrassing,” Dimon, 55, said today at a conference hosted by the Council of Institutional Investors in Washington. He said the bank faces extra legal and regulatory hurdles after a Florida lawsuit revealed that bank officials had signed foreclosure affidavits without verifying their accuracy.
Mortgage servicers have begun signing agreements with federal regulators to improve procedures after investigations faulted foreclosure documentation, two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. Watchdogs issuing consent decrees -- including the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision -- are trying to improve industry practices while continuing talks on possible monetary penalties, the people said.
Dimon didn’t elaborate on New York-based JPMorgan’s talks with national authorities or with state attorneys general.
“We made a mistake, they were signing it based upon what they were told, not based upon checking the note file, checking the loan file,” Dimon said. “But the actual information in the affidavit was 99.5 percent accurate. We’re not foreclosing on people who we shouldn’t foreclose on. But we made a mistake, and we’re going to pay for that mistake.”
The bank will “get through it,” he said.
Dimon also reiterated concerns that financial regulations, such as “excessive” capital rules, may stifle economic growth. Separately, he said affluent Americans should shoulder most of the U.S. tax burden.
“Those well off should pay a lion’s share,” he said. “I have no problem with that.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Dawn Kopecki in Washington at dkopecki@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net
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