In , 49 state attorneys general, the District of Columbia and the federal government announced a historic joint state-federal settlement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers:
The agreement settles only some aspects of the banks conduct related to the financial crisis (foreclosure practices, loan servicing, and origination of loans) in return for the second largest state attorneys general recovery in history and direct relief to distressed borrowers while they can still use it
- Ally/GMAC
- Bank of America
- Citi
- JPMorgan Chase
- Wells Fargo
The agreement settles only some aspects of the banks conduct related to the financial crisis (foreclosure practices, loan servicing, and origination of loans) in return for the second largest state attorneys general recovery in history and direct relief to distressed borrowers while they can still use it
- Relief to distressed borrowers in the states; and
- Direct payments to signing states and the federal government.
The agreement settled state and federal investigations finding that the country’s five largest mortgage servicers routinely signed foreclosure related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without really knowing whether the facts they contained were correct. Both of these practices violate the law.
The settlement provides benefits to borrowers in the signing states whose loans are owned by the settling banks as well as to many of the borrowers whose loans they service. Borrowers from Oklahoma were not eligible for any of the relief directly to homeowners because Oklahoma elected not to join the settlement. Continue reading