Good afternoon, We are writing to notify you that the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice would like your assistance in contacting homeowners you have previously counseled who they have determined appear on the list of victims eligible for payments from the $335 million settlement fund created to resolve the Justice Department December 2011 lending discrimination lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corporation.  (More information about the lawsuit can be found at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/December/11-ag-1694.html and more information about the settlement fund distribution process is at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/documents/countrywide_rust_administrator_english.php.) 

The administrator for the settlement fund has sent multiple letters, and made follow-up phone calls, to more than 200,000 Countrywide borrowers who were identified as victims based on Countrywide’s loan records, but some of those borrowers have not yet returned the necessary form, which is very easy to complete, to receive money from the settlement.  Victims are eligible for payments of between $200 to more than $10,000.

If you are willing to contact your previous clients identified on the Justice Department’s list, please respond to Patricia O’Beirne, the attorney who is the Department’s point of contact for this project, at 202-307-6264 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., who is also cced on this message.  She will then send you a list of your clients who are on the Countrywide victim list, which the Justice Department determined based on comparing client names and addresses that counseling agencies have submitted to the NeighborWorks database to the list of victims who have not yet responded to mailings and phone calls.   Please note: Your participation is voluntary, but appreciated as the U.S. Department of Justice cannot compensate any counseling agencies.   Thank you, NFMC