Letter from Reps. Gutierrez and Moore Points to Allegations Against

Beneficiaries of TARP Funds

October 6, 2010

Media Contact: Douglas Rivlin (202) 225-8203

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington, DC) – Two House Financial Services Subcommittee Chairmen, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS), called for an immediate investigation into the foreclosure practices of major lenders that received funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Rep. Gutierrez, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, and Rep. Moore, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said “there is already enough evidence of unwarranted foreclosures and irregularities by lenders and servicers to warrant full investigations into the practices of these financial institutions.”

The letter was addressed to Special Inspector General of TARP Neil Barofsky, Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE), the new Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel that oversees TARP, and Acting Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office.

The letter reads, in part:

“Given the apparent widespread disregard of due diligence performed by major financial institutions in processing foreclosures, and given that most of these institutions were rescued by taxpayers through TARP and some remain dependent on taxpayer support, we respectfully request that your organizations initiate an immediate investigation into this matter. […]

“The American people helped out these companies and the least they deserve is a guarantee of due process and fairness when faced with something as profoundly life-changing as a foreclosure. It is nothing short of a perversion of the system that these companies in turn put many of these American taxpayers on the street through unwarranted foreclosures and evictions. Your investigation will assist in holding these financial institutions accountable.”

A copy of the letter is here .

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