JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday said it is expanding its review of improperly processed foreclosures, defended its decisions to seize homes as justified and reported it had added to reserves for "mortgage-related" litigation.
The New York lender is reviewing 115,000 foreclosure affidavits in 41 states after finding that the paperwork in some cases was not notarized or not properly reviewed by mortgage signers, said Doug Braunstein, JPMorgan Chase's chief financial officer, in a call with analysts to discuss the company's third-quarter results.
Braunstein said the company believes its foreclosures were "justified by the facts and circumstances" despite any filing mistakes that may have occurred.
CEO Jamie Dimon made similar comments in a conference call with reporters and downplayed the impact of the foreclosure documentation controversy that has affected JPMorgan Chase and other big lenders.
"It will cost us some money to go back and make sure it's done right; it will delay some foreclosures," Dimon said, according to Bloomberg News. "But the whole mortgage issue costs us so much money now, to me it will be incremental."
In its earnings announcement, the company said it added $1.3 billion of litigation reserves, including "those for mortgage-related matters."
