Banks Hoarding $41 Million In Sandy Relief Funds Slated For Homeowners

Still waiting for your Superstorm Sandy insurance check? It might be at the bank. Apparently, major banks have about $41 million worth of Sandy insurance money, but aren’t releasing any of it until they are sure that the money will be spent on repairs, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The bank taking the most time in issuing insurance money is Selene Finance of Texas. They haven’t issued 71 percent of their Sandy insurance checks. Other offending banks making the list are Capital One, Nationstar, Astoria Federal and Select Portfolio.

Homeowners looking for an ally in this fight to against the delinquent banks have a big one in Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Some banks have continued to lag especially far behind the rest, and it’s well past time for them to pick up the pace,” Governor Cuomo said, according to the Daily News.

The biggest banks (Citi, Chase, Bank of America) have done a decent job of paying out the much needed insurance money, paying out 89 percent of what is owed.

Here is a list of the 10 slowest banks and how much money they are still holding back.

1. Selene Finance, $1.87 million (71%)

2. Select Portfolio, $4.86 million (56%)

3. Astoria Federal, $3.67 million (48%)

4. Capital One, $3.7 million (45%)

5. Nationstar Mortgage, $6 million (44%)

6. Flagstar, $2.9 million (42%)

7. Specialized Loan, $1.37 million (41%)

8. OneWest Bank, $14.3 million (39%)

9. Sun Trust Mortgage, $712,884 (39%)

10. Mid-Island Mortgage, $1.25 million (38%)

Do you use any of these banks and are still waiting for your insurance check to be approved ? Let us know about it.