The attorney generals sued the five largest national banks and reached a 25 billion dollar settlement in regards to mortgage fraud. For all of the outrage and obvious wrong doing, where are we today?
10 billion was to “quickly” be delivered to hundreds of thousands of people.
- 732,000 settlement checks have not been delivered
- 600 million still unclaimed
- 850,000 checks have been reissued
- $300.00 average check for homeowners who were defrauded by the banks vs. the original $5,000.00 that was promised.
For those who call about receiving their checks, they complained that it is nearly as time consuming and frustrating as applying for a loan modification. Additionally, the banks were asked to assist with the payments and to “determine the amount to be paid to each homeowner”. The approach may get out more money to more people; however, the same banks that are found to have caused the situation would now determine the size of the checks. It’s beyond illogical. Moreover, the decision to dole out cash to far more people — about 4.4 million, all told — ensured that payouts would be small.
Therefore, in the end, the AG got a settlement for 25 billion against the five largest banks, but a year later, most people are still in the same boat with insult added to injury.