In March 2012, the US federal government and 49 state attorneys
general reached an unprecedented $25 billion mortgage settlement
agreement with five of the largest mortgage servicers in the US: Ally
Financial Inc. (formerly GMAC), Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup
Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Company Inc. (the
banks).
The settlement is significant due to the settlement amount: it is the
largest financial settlement ever obtained by the attorneys general
(except for the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement).
Equally important, the settlement is significant due to its immediate
and continuing effects on the US housing market and struggling
homeowners, on participants in the US mortgage industry and on the
likely philosophy of the US Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the
CFPB) for regulatory oversight of mortgage servicers.
These and other ongoing effects of the mortgage settlement will shape the US mortgage market for many years to come.
The settlement
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