Allocation of National Mortgage Settlement

Have you wondered about what really happened to the money negotiated through the National Mortgage Settlement Agreement? I wonder. I still wonder. Nobody seems to know exactly where the money went. A recent article on The Bryan Ellis Investing Letter breaks it down, sort of. Nobody seems to know where all the money went. I looked at on the site for the National Conference of State Legislators and found a break down for allocations state by state which was published around the time of the settlement date. The allocation of funds for Florida follows. But how the money was actually spent, remains a mystery. It seems abundantly clear that the monies did not go to beleaguered former homeowners who had already lost their homes in foreclosure.

FLORIDA ALLOCATION OF NATIONAL MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT MONIES:

$334,073,974.00 - Florida's Share

$35 million for down payment assistance;
$10 million for housing counseling;
$5 million for the state court system to help with foreclosure-related issues;
$5 million to the Office of the Attorney General to fund legal aid programs;
$9,117,895 to the Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarship Program;
$5,262,579 to the state courts system to provide technology solutions that expedite foreclosure cases through the judicial process;
$16 million to the state courts system to provide supplemental resources to reduce the backlog of pending foreclosure cases;
$9.7 million to the clerks of the court to enhance service levels to assist and support the courts in expediting processing backlogged foreclosure cases;
$10 million to the Office of the Attorney General to provide legal aid to low- and moderate-income homeowners facing foreclosure;
$10 million to the Department of Children and Families for capital improvements to certified domestic violence centers;
$20 million to Habitat for Humanity of Florida;
$50 million to reduce rents on new or existing rental units through the State Apartment Incentive Program;
$10 million to fund the construction or rehabilitation of units through the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program;
$40 million to fund the State Housing Initiative Program;
$10 million to the Department of Economic Opportunity to fund a competitive grant program to provide housing for homeless persons;
$10 million to the Department of Economic Opportunity to fund a competitive grant program to provide housing for persons with developmental disabilities;
$5 million to the Office of the Attorney General to reimburse the office for costs and fees;
The remaining funds are directed to the state General Fund as civil penalties.

And stated on the Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi's site:

"Attorney General Bondi formally entered a landmark $25 billion joint federal-state agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses and unacceptable nationwide mortgage servicing practices. The proposed agreement provides an estimated $8.4 billion in relief to Florida homeowners and addresses future mortgage loan servicing practices. The settlement generally releases civil claims related to robo-signing, other foreclosure-related abuses, and loan origination misconduct, but it provides no release of criminal claims or of claims related to mortgage securitization.

'This settlement will provide substantial relief to struggling Florida homeowners, and ensures that our state gets its fair share of the relief being provided nationally,' stated Attorney General Pam Bondi. "This agreement holds banks accountable and puts in place new protections for homeowners in the form of strict mortgage servicing standards.'"

AND

"Florida’s share of the total monetary benefits under the settlement is approximately $8.4 billion.

• Florida borrowers will receive an estimated $7.6 billion in benefits from loan modifications, including principal reduction, and other direct relief.
• Approximately $170 million will be available for cash payments to Florida borrowers who lost their home to foreclosure from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2011 and suffered servicing abuse.
• The value of refinanced loans to Florida’s underwater borrowers would be an estimated $309 million.
• The state will receive a direct payment of $334 million.

In addition to the terms of the national settlement agreement, Attorney General Bondi separately negotiated an agreement with the nation’s three largest mortgage servicers to ensure that a guaranteed portion of the overall settlement funds goes to Florida borrowers.

For more information about eligibility and filing a claim:
Website: NationalMortgageSettlement.com
Email: administrator@nationalmortgagesettlement.com
Call toll-free: 1-866-430-8358 (Hearing Impaired: 1-866-494-8281).
*The line is staffed Monday through Friday from (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central)."

In fact, some former homeowners received checks for $300.; and a few others I know of received around $1400. The state of Florida has gleefully participated in the fleecing of Florida citizens perpetrated by the banks and that fleecing continues to this day. The mortgage crisis and great recession is the result of the biggest Ponzi scheme ever that makes Bernie Madoff look like a kindergartner.

If I had never purchased a home, a potential first time home buyer, there is no way that I would buy a home now. Not in this economy. Not after witnessing these recent events. I would stay home with Mom as long as she could stand it, and then after that I would rent. The media can blame the slow down in purchases on the weather, or alternately claim that the mortgage crisis ended. But, you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.