• After more than a year of negotiations, state and federal government officials last week announced a record housing settlement of more than $26 billion with five of the country’s biggest banks over foreclosure abuses, a deal expected to help more than one million U.S. homeowners.
• State attorneys general and federal officials have been in discussions for more than a year with banks over the “robo-signing” crisis—the practice of assigning bank employees to rapidly approve numerous foreclosures with only cursory glances at the glut of paperwork to determine if all the documents are in order.
• In the end, 49 states participated in the settlement, including California and New York which had previously held out for a better deal.
• The settlement is with Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc., the company formerly known as GMAC.
• To see a breakdown of the settlement, go to http://nyti.ms/wtY41q.
