Help for Connecticut victims of foreclosure abuse, fraud and unacceptable mortgage servicing practices.

The National Mortgage Settlement. Connecticut is slated to receive $190 million out of the $25 billion dollar joint federal state settlement agreement over foreclosure abuses, fraud and unacceptable mortgage servicing practices from the big 5. Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, GMAC and Wells Fargo.

According to Attorney General George Jepson, the money is slated to be used in the following manner.

• Connecticut borrowers will receive an estimated $119 million in benefits from loan term modifications and other direct relief.
• The estimated 7,500 Connecticut borrowers who lost their home to foreclosure from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2011 and suffered servicing abuse would qualify for an estimated $1,500 in cash payments to individual borrowers.
  
• The value of refinanced loans to Connecticut’s underwater borrowers would be an estimated $36 million.
• The state will receive a direct payment estimated at $27 million to help pay for local foreclosure prevention programs, such as the Connecticut Department of Banking’s foreclosure prevention hotline, HUD- approved housing counselors, the Judicial Branch’s foreclosure mediation program, non-profit legal aid groups that help homeowners facing foreclosure, and loan modification programs supported by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

The lenders are to reach out and help those struggling now. Contact numbers for the big 5 are below if you have questions about your own mortgage with them:

1. Bank of America: 877.488.7814
2. Citi: 866.372.6901
3. Chase: 866.372.6901
   
4. GMAC: 800.766.4622
   
5. Wells Fargo: 800.288.3212

You may also be contacted by a settlement administrator from the State of Connecticut. For more information check out the National Mortgage Settlement Website.

This settlement agreement does NOT grant immunity to the Big 5.

"The settlement does not grant any immunity from criminal offenses and will not affect criminal prosecutions. The agreement does not prevent homeowners or investors from pursuing individual, institutional or class action civil cases against the five servicers.; The pact also enables state attorneys general and federal agencies to investigate and pursue other aspects of the mortgage crisis, including securities cases." -Office of Attorney General George Jepson

(The final settlement is slated to be filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.)

For those who are struggling now, this could mean the help you are looking for. For those who may qualify for a $1,500 payment because they suffered abuse by the big 5, were a victim of robo-signing, etc., I am hoping it is not a case of "too little, too late".

I am also hoping that the lenders have properly trained their staff, that they are aware that the game has changed, that the goal is to help the struggling home owner.