Consumers in one state might finally get some relief from the force-placed insurance market that has ruined the credit of so many property owners, and forced untold numbers into foreclosure and bankruptcy. On September 19^th, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state was proposing new rules that, among other things, would forbid the kinds of kickbacks between insurers and mortgage lenders that allowed premiums for force-placed insurance to skyrocket.

“Two years ago, my administration launched an investigation of the force-placed insurance industry that revealed widespread abuses of consumers by banks and mortgage companies,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement issued by the New York Department of Financial Services. “Today we are taking a major step in righting this injustice and reforming the industry by proposing tough new regulations to protect homeowners. Insurers should be on notice that New York State is going to continue rooting out abuse in the industry and protecting taxpayers.”

If adopted, the rules will only apply to force-placed insurance that is imposed on properties in New York State. But the development could bode well for consumers around the country who have filed force-placed insurance lawsuits against some of the nation’s biggest banks and mortgage servicers. Now that they know that regulators are paying attention, banks, mortgage servicers and insurers will be facing increasing pressure to resolve these claims.

Now is the Time to File a Forced-Place Insurance Lawsuit

If your credit was ruined, or you were driven to foreclosure after your mortgage lender force-placed expensive hazard, flood or wind insurance on your home, now is the time to act! Gilman Law LLP, a leading consumer protection law firm for over 40 years that is already representing numerous property owners in force-placed insurance actions, believes that some claimants could be entitled to compensation equaling as much as 200% of the premiums they were assessed for expensive force-placed insurance policies. That’s because it’s become apparent that banks and insurers engaged in predatory practices and colluded in ways that resulted in consumers being charged exorbitant premiums for force-placed wind, hazard and flood insurance policies that, in most cases, afforded them much less protection than standard insurance and ultimately resulted in ruining the credit of many property owners and causing undue hardship.

Gilman Law LLP is continuing to offer free, no-obligation legal evaluations to consumers who may have been victimized by the force-placed insurance market anywhere in the United States. Some of the banks and mortgage servicers subject to the firm’s investigation include:

• Bank of America
•  HSBC
• Green Tree
• Nationstar
• Chase
• Citizens Bank
• OCWEN
• US Bank
• Ally Financial, Inc., formerly GMAC
• Others force-placed through insurance companies such as Assurant, American Security, QBE, and others.

If any of these lenders held or serviced a mortgage on your home and force-placed wind, flood or hazard insurance on your property, it is vitally important that you contact Gilman Law LLP today, at 1-888-252-0048. Force-placed insurance lawsuits are subject to strict statutes-of-limitations that set a firm deadline by which a claim must be filed. Time could be running out on your potential lawsuit, which could result in it being barred.

What is Force-Placed Insurance?

Many mortgage contracts allow lenders to impose wind, hazard, flood or other coverage on a property if the owner has allowed required policies to lapse, unfortunately, our investigations and recent regulatory investigations have found that banks and insurers took advantage of this system during the housing crisis, and used it as an opportunity to line their own pockets while they fleeced consumers.

The New York State investigation found that premiums charged to homeowners for force-placed insurance can be two to ten times higher than premiums for voluntary insurance. According to regulators, these ridiculously high premiums were driven by a “troubling web of kick-backs and payoffs at certain force-placed insurers,” that gave lenders and mortgage servicers an incentive to purchase needlessly expensive policies.

If you would like more information about the force-placed insurance actions that Gilman Law LLP is currently involved in, or to have your own claim evaluated, please fill out the online form on this page, or call 1-888-252-0048 to contact our attorneys today.

Would you let your mortgage lender or servicer purchase wind, hazard or flood insurance on your home? For most homeowners, the answer would be a resounding no. Yet force-placed insurance, which has proven to be financially ruinous for many consumers, is more common than you might think.

Although many mortgage contracts allow a bank to force-place coverage for wind, flood or hazard insurance on a property if the owner fails to maintain required coverage, while once rare, the chaos created by the housing crises has made the force-placing of insurance an all-to-common occurrence in recent years.  Unfortunately, force-placed policies generally cost as much as 10-times more, and offer far less protection, compared to standard insurance policies most people can obtain on their own. For many already-struggling property owners, hefty premiums for a forced-placed policy were what finally drove them into foreclosure.

Regulators Set Their Sights on Force-Placed Insurance Market

Our recent investigations and others by state regulators have found that collusion between banks and insurers made this sad situation far worse than it needed to be. For example, last year an investigation by the New York Department of Financial Service determined that profit sharing between lenders and insurers inflated the price of force-placed insurance by creating incentives for banks and mortgage servicers to buy policies with high premiums

“Our investigation found that insurers and banks built a network of troubling relationships and payoffs that helped drive premiums sky-high,” Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York’s top financial regulator, said earlier this year. “Those improper practices created significant conflicts of interest and saddled homeowners, taxpayers and investors with millions of dollars in unfair and unnecessary costs.”

New York recently reached a large settlement with Assurant, one of the largest providers of force-placed insurance. According to a report from The New York Times, the settlement included several provisions that prohibit some commissions and expenses.  And in September 2013, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed new regulations that would, among other things, eliminate kickbacks in the industry that drove up premiums.

What to Do If You’ve Been the Victim of Force-Placed Insurance

If you were forced into foreclosure or had your credit ruined because of force-placed insurance, you do have rights. Right now, hundreds of consumers around the country are seeking compensation against banks and insurers that may have engaged in predatory practices and improperly force-placed insurance on their homes. Gilman Law LLP is already representing numerous plaintiffs in force-placed insurance lawsuits, and continues to investigate claims against a number of big mortgage lenders, including:

• Bank of America
•  HSBC
• Green Tree
• Nationstar
• Chase
• Citizens Bank
• OCWEN
• US Bank
• Ally Financial, Inc., formerly GMAC
• Insurers: Assurant, American Security, QBE, and Balboa

Now that regulators are finally paying attention, consumers may face their best chance for receiving compensation for the financial harm they suffered due to the industry’s unscrupulous practices. The attorneys at Gilman Law LLP believe that in some cases, homeowners who had insurance imposed on their property could be due damages equal to as much as 20% of the premiums they were assessed for force-placed policies.

Victims of force-placed insurance only have a limited time in which to act. To make sure your claim for restitution isn’t time barred by your state’s statute of limitations, please contact Gilman Law LLP by filling out our online free consultation form, or CALL TOLL FREE (888) 252-0048.