Attorney General Talks Mortgage Settlement

The Idaho attorney general warns of a new scam related to the recent multi-state mortgage service settlement.

Callers are pretending to have a list of consumers who are eligible for money from the settlement.

According to the attorney general’s office, these scammers are asking for bank account information and credit card numbers.

This is against Idaho law. If you’re a borrower looking for assistance, you don’t have to pay any money for help.

Idaho struck gold earlier this month, receiving $114 million in a $25 billion nationwide settlement involving the mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices of Bank of America, Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ally and Wells Fargo.

Together, these companies service about half of the U.S. mortgage loan market.

State Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said this decision has been a long time coming — two years.

“It’s been very difficult to conclude. Idaho has been very high on the list of foreclosures, because we were particularly hard hit by the economic downturn,” said Wasden.

Fourteen million dollars of the settlement will go to the legislature to be spent at their discretion, and the rest will be given back to thousands of Idahoans.

“The remainder, about $100 million, is to be used to assist persons who have either been foreclosed on improperly or who are in the process of trying to get refinancing or principal reductions,” said Wadsen. “There is an amount of money, about $2,000, to try and give some restitution for the improper actions that were taken.”

If you would like to find out if you qualify to receive part of this settlement, the Office of the Comptroller will conduct a foreclosure review extending through July of this year.

The Attorney General’s Office agrees the mortgage settlement is quite complex.

Information about the foreclosure review is available through the his office, you can visit this link.