The housing bust still has an impact on both the housing market and the millions of people who owe more money on their houses than they are now worth. Some of this has been due to abuses by lenders and five have agreed to provide funds to assist those still trapped by the crunch. More are expected to follow suit.
From the NYT:
After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of
the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that
could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American
homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and
federal officials said in Washington on Thursday.
. . . Under the plan,
federal officials said, about $5 billion would be cash payments to
states and federal authorities, $17 billion would be earmarked for
homeowner relief, roughly $3 billion would go for refinancing and a
final $1 billion would be paid to the Federal Housing Administration. If
nine other major mortgage servicers join the pact, a possibility that
is now under discussion with the government, the total package could
rise to $30 billion.
