States Reach $25 Billion Deal With Banks Over Foreclosure Abuses
More than two million American homeowners will get at least $25 billion in
relief from the nation’s biggest banks as part of a broad settlement to be
announced as early as Thursday with state and federal authorities. It is the
latest effort by the government to halt the housing market’s downward slide.
Despite the billions earmarked in the accord, the aid will help only a
relatively small portion of the millions of borrowers who are delinquent and
still facing foreclosure.
The success could depend in part on how effectively
the program is implemented, because earlier attempts by Washington to help
troubled borrowers aided far fewer than had been expected.
Still, the agreement marks the broadest effort yet to help borrowers who owe
more than their houses are worth, with roughly 1 million to see their mortgage
debt reduced by banks. In addition, 300,000 homeowners are to be able to
refinance at lower rates, while another 750,000 people who lost their homes to
foreclosure between September 2008 and the end of 2011 will receive checks for
about $2,000.
Brokered by officials in Washington, the final details of the pact were being
negotiated until the last possible minute, 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
officials familiar with the negotiations.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/business/states-negotiate-25-billion-deal-for-homeowners.html?emc=na
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