National Mortgage Settlement All But Inevitable As California, New York Join Deal [View all]

[cal04]

Last edited Thu Feb 9, 2012, 02:47 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/national-mortgage-settlement_n_1264012.html

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and California Attorney General Kamala Harris are joining the national mortgage servicing settlement, making a deal that includes all 50 states all but inevitable, according to a source who spoke Wednesday evening on condition of anonymity.

"It's hard to see any state staying out of the deal if California is in," said the source.

The settlement resolves allegations that five of the nation's largest banks forged documents and wrongfully foreclosed on borrowers in what has come to be known as the "robo-signing" scandal. Schneiderman and Harris have been outspoken in urging the Obama administration to hold the nation's biggest banks accountable for their role in the housing crisis and have resisted signing on to the settlement until now over concerns that it would go too easy on the banks and provide too little homeowner relief. The two states' participation had widely been seen as necessary to a successful deal.

California has been one of the hardest hit states during the foreclosure crisis, and because of this was considered a key state when it came to securing a deal. The five banks participating in the settlement -- Ally Financial, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase -- agreed to contribute a total of $25 billion to help struggling homeowners if California joined the deal. Without California, that figure would drop to $19 billion. The deal is being negotiated between the state attorneys general, the Obama administration and the banks.


Just posted to the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/business/states-negotiate-25-billion-deal-for-homeowners.html
States Negotiate $25 Billion Deal for Homeowners

(snip)
The final details of the pact were still being negotiated Wednesday night, including how many states would participate and when the formal announcement would be made in Washington. The two biggest holdouts, California and New York, now plan to sign on, according to the officials with knowledge of the matter who did not want to be identified because the negotiations were not completed.


State attorneys general closer to foreclosure settlement
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-mortgage-settlement-20120208,0,1968517.story

Attorneys general appeared close to reaching a massive multistate settlement over faulty foreclosure proceedings Wednesday night, though California and New York remained in negotiations, a person not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said.

Think Progress:The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement, By The Numbers
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/09/421865/foreclosure-fraud-settlement-numbers/

(snip)
The deal protects banks from state and federal lawsuits pertaining to some foreclosure fraud abuses, including robo-signing. However, Schneidermann’s lawsuit against three big banks for allegedly fraudulent use of a mortgage database will go forward. In addition, “individual homeowners retain private rights of action to sue over foreclosure fraud and other abuses.”