More than 14,000 Marylanders benefit in just nine months; another $118 million in ongoing trial modifications may boost total relief to Md. borrowers
BALTIMORE—Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler recently announced that distressed Maryland homeowners have received more than $1.1 billion in relief from the National Mortgage Settlement as of December 31, exceeding the projection that Marylanders were expected to receive. The third quarterly progress report, issued by the court-appointed Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, shows 14,217 Maryland homeowners have received assistance from the settlement from March 1 through December 31.
“In less than a year, more than 14,000 Maryland homeowners have benefited from the settlement,” said Attorney General Gansler. “Not only have thousands of families who remain in their homes benefited, entire neighborhoods, cities and counties have also benefited as the reduction in foreclosures has helped stabilize home prices - a necessity for economic recovery in Maryland."
The benefits and assistance calculated in the report include home mortgage modifications, principal reductions, deficiency waivers, refinancing and short sale financial assistance. The report does not include the benefits and assistance finalized in January and February and does not reflect the one-time cash payments to eligible victims of foreclosure, expected to be paid out in this summer. The $1,124,315,627 in relief and assistance does not include more than $118 million in active trial modifications. Maryland’s share of the National Mortgage Settlement was projected to be $957 million, including an estimated $900 million in direct relief and assistance to Maryland homeowners.
“We are pleased to see that the settlement continues to offer meaningful relief to Marylanders as well as homeowners impacted by foreclosure across the nation,” said Mark Kaufman, Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation. “As a member of the monitoring committee overseeing the implementation of the settlement, we will continue to work with Monitor Joseph Smith, Attorneys General from around the country, HUD and DOJ to ensure that the progress evidenced by this report continues.”
The full progress report outlines nearly $46 billion in gross consumer relief distributed or in process nationwide to more than 550,000 borrowers by the five national lenders under the settlement: Ally/GMAC, Bank of America (Countrywide), Citi Bank, JPMorgan Chase (WaMu) and Wells Fargo (Wachovia). The figures provided in the report have been submitted to the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight by the five lenders and are subject to review by the Monitor.
The settlement was the result of allegations that the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers engaged in illegal “robo-signing” of documents and a variety of other mortgage lending abuses that helped trigger the collapse of the real estate market.
To read the report “Ongoing Implementation: A Report from the Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement,” visit: http://www.oag.state.md.us/mortgageSettlement/Monitor_Progress_Report_Feb2013.pdf
To see Maryland-specific information, visit: http://www.oag.state.md.us/mortgageSettlement/Monitor_Progress_Report_MD_Feb2013.pdf
For general information on the National Mortgage Settlement, visit AG Gansler’s website:
http://www.oag.state.md.us/mortgageSettlement/
Additional information is available at:
http://www.NationalMortgageSettlement.com
http://www.HUD.gov
http://www.DOJ.gov
Source: Office of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler