California Attorney General Kamala Harris is probably glad she rejoined the foreclosure settlement — her state is getting the biggest piece of the pie.
The Golden State stands to get about $18 billion of what amounts to $40 billion when you add the full dollar amount of the credits the banks receive — which comes to about $32 billion, the $3 billion going to refinancing loans and the $5 billion to be paid to federal and state governments.
When Harris left the negotiating table, she insisted on “more relief for the most distressed homeowners, meaningful enforcement and the ability of California and other states to pursue investigations of misconduct.”
She seems to have gotten all that and more.
Florida, coming in at $8.4 billion receives the second highest payout, followed by Arizona at $1.6 billion and Nevada at $1.5 billion. All three states were hit hard by the housing market, and will benefit not only from the money, but also from the mortgage modifications included in the deal.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper both openly said the money is not the most important part of the settlement, instead pointing to the new regulations
Former Maine attorney general and previous National Association of Attorneys General president Andrew Ketterer agreed with the AGs.
“The long-term ramifications of altering and modifying heretofore standard business practices are very significant,” said Ketterer to SNL. “Presumably there will be far less of that type of behavior in the future, because now somebody is watching.”
So, while the settlement certainly won’t fix the problem or repair the damage done to the thousands of homeowners affected by the robo-signing debacle, it may perhaps set up a foundation for serious repair to a beyond broken system.
