Thanks to federal agencies “cutting in” on deals with lenders to settle foreclosure problems and try to resolve the lack of confidence instilled in consumers thanks to last fall’s robo-signing fiasco, some lenders may avoid the $20 billion in penalties for faulty foreclosures proposed by the investigative team of attorneys general several weeks ago[1]. According to a report from Bloomberg, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and several other mortgage servicers are “more likely to dodge a threatened $20 billion in penalties…by signing deals [with federal agencies] without fines”[2]. Currently, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC are making deals without the AGs on board in an effort to “ease pressure on banks,” said former Fed attorney Gilbert Schwartz. Schwartz added that this handicaps the AGs’ ability to negotiate because having deals in place already will “set an upper limit on what the banks would be willing to do.”

Thomas Miller, Iowa’s AG, has released a statement expressing his “disappointment” in these possible settlements and pointing out that working with the AGs would “protect the public interest to the fullest.” Other AG representatives have stated that any settlements reached will be viewed “as a floor, not a ceiling” on what the group might seek in damages from lenders.

Do you think that this move to cut out the AGs is a questionable one?

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[1] http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2011/04/wells-bofa-may-skip-20b-foreclosure.html

[2] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-06/banks-get-edge-in-talks-on-foreclosure-penalties-as-feds-settle.html