Foreclosure Review: Just 3 Percent Of Eligible Borrowers Apply For Review

Bob Hale nearly lost his Concord, Mass., home to foreclosure in 2010 as a result of what he claims were bank errors.

That would make him a prime candidate for the Independent Foreclosure Review, a program overseen by federal bank regulators that is designed to grant cash payouts to homeowners who prove that their loan was mismanaged during the foreclosure process.

But Hale is taking a pass. "I'm reluctant to waste my time," he wrote in a recent email exchange. "I just don't trust a word they say," he said, referring to several banks' close involvement in shaping the review process.

Hale is one of millions of borrowers who have not bothered to apply for relief through this program. So far, just 136,000, or 3 percent of qualifying borrowers, have mailed in forms requesting a loan audit, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the regulators overseeing the program. Mailings to notify borrowers eligible to apply to program were first sent beginning Nov. 1, 2010.

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