Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia

Mortgage foreclosure settlement

In a historic deal after repeated delays and over a year of negotiations, the Justice Department, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 49 state attorneys general has finalized a $26 billion civil settlement with five of the largest mortgage lenders for wrongful foreclosures through robo-signing wherein homes were foreclosed upon without human review or proper paperwork. Participating banks include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup Financial and Ally Financial.

Virginian and home borrowers in the state will receive about $479.6 million in relief from the $25 billion settlement between states and five mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses.

VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says the banks will make cash payments totaling more than $31 million to Virginians who experienced foreclosure abuses from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2011.

Under the agreement, the banks also will modify loan terms and provide other relief to Virginia home borrowers. Cuccinelli says this relief totals more than $409 million.

The banks will pay the state more than $69.6 million.

The banks are Bank of America, JPMorgan, Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial.

Several states were hesitant to sign on as there was a lack of clarity as to how the settlement would shake out and if each state was getting their proportionately fair share, and until New York, Nevada and California finally signed on today, the settlement looked to be much smaller than the final $26 billion. Oklahoma was the lone state that declared the settlement to be insufficient and refused to sign on – it is possible that they will continue pursuing a separate civil lawsuit against the banks to best serve wrongful foreclosure victims in their state.

“We are using this opportunity to fix a broken system,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at a news conference this morning. Most of the settlement will go to underwater homeowners for the next three years, with a strong emphasis and better incentives for relief in 2012.

Breakdown of settlement funds

The largest portion will go toward reducing the principal on underwater or delinquent mortgages, ranging from $17 billion $34 billion. Officials note this portion will help up to one million current homeowners which at the $17 billion pace could mean an average principal reduction of $17,000. Most note, however, that the majority of underwater homeowners would still not be able to afford payments, even with a $17,000 reduction, so the one million mark, like other recent programs, may come up short.

Various programs are in place to help homeowners to obtain permanent mortgage modifications at lower rates, but this settlement adds up to $3 billion more relief, offering lower rates to current homeowners without principal reductions. As rates are currently at historic lows, this could provide mortgage savings nationwide.

The only relief to wronged homeowners comes in the form of $1.5 billion set aside for homeowners whose homes were wrongly foreclosed upon between 2008 and 2011, offering up to $2,000 per homeowner. Given the intention of the settlement being to make things right after illegal foreclosures, the amount set aside for people who were wronged appears to be disproportionate and was a massive point of contention for select states’ attorneys general, but it appears the needs of the few were sacrificed for the many.

A total of $5 billion will be paid to states, some of which will be offered to foreclosure victims, most of which will likely go to currently underwater borrowers to keep them in their homes.

According to CoreLogic, 11 million underwater mortgages and 1.5 million borrowers who are at least 90 days late on their mortgage payments. The settlement funds seek to slow the hemorrhaging of foreclosures.

SEARCH FOR FORECLOSURES IN HAMPTON ROADS AND WILLIAMSBURG ON THIS WEBSITE

To search by  city or county, click on the links below. These are preset searches where you bank owned / REO  foreclosures in those areas. No registration needed and no charge to access.

Foreclosure Lists:

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Like what you are reading ? Want to receive updates by email in the future ? Sign up here  psst … I’m a Realtor! Thanks for stopping by my website. I  would love to help you find your dream home and community in the Hampton Roads or Williamsburg area or to sell your existing home. This post was authored by local resident and REALTOR, John Womeldorf. John is known around town as Mr. Williamsburg, for both his extensive knowledge of Hampton Roads and the historic triangle, and his expertise in the local real estate market. His websites, WilliamsburgsRealEstate.com  and Mr Williamsburg.com were created as a resource for folks who are exploring a move to  Williamsburg, VA , Hampton Roads VA and the  surrounding areas of the Virginia Peninsula. On his website you can search homes for sale , foreclosures, 55+ active adult communities,   condos and town homes , land and commercial property for sale in Williamsburg, Yorktown, New Kent,  Poquoson, and Gloucester, VA as well as surrounding markets of Carrolton,  Chesapeake,Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth  Mathews, Newport News Norfolk, Poquoson, Smithfield, , Suffolk, Surry,  Va Beach, Yorktown  and York County Virginia You can reach John by email John@MrWilliamsburg.com or phone @  757-254-8136

Filed under: Foreclosures/ REO, virginia |