{"id":4753,"date":"2012-02-10T10:44:07","date_gmt":"2012-02-10T17:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=4753"},"modified":"2012-02-10T11:42:39","modified_gmt":"2012-02-10T18:42:39","slug":"idaho-ags-office-10000-idaho-homeowners-to-benefit-from-mortgage-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/02\/10\/idaho-ags-office-10000-idaho-homeowners-to-benefit-from-mortgage-settlement\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho AG’s Office: 10,000+ Idaho Homeowners to Benefit from Mortgage Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Spencer Platt \/ Getty Images<\/p>

<\/p><\/div>\n

To get a better understanding of how yesterday’s $26 billion dollar mortgage settlement<\/a> will affect Idaho borrowers, StateImpact spoke to Brett DeLange, the Consumer Protection Division Chief for the Idaho attorney general’s office.\u00a0 While the settlement is facing criticism<\/a> and questions about its worth to homeowners<\/a>, DeLange says thousands in Idaho stand to benefit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>How will these payments be distributed?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Part of the settlement agreement provides for a settlement administrator, or a claims administrator, paid for by the banks who will administer the settlement.\u00a0 We\u2019ve selected an administrator with extensive experience in identifying and working with vast, massive settlements like this one will be.\u00a0 People will be identified.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be contacted.\u00a0 The process won\u2019t be immediate, but people will be contacted and notified about eligibility and their options under the settlement. <\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>How will that work?\u00a0 Do they have a database of underwater homeowners and they\u2019ll be assessing their eligibility?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Yes.\u00a0 It will be complex, but there\u2019s a variety of databases they\u2019ll be looking at and then there\u2019s a variety of other databases to identify their location.\u00a0 And then the settlement gives options for benefits to be offered.\u00a0 Homeowners will not need to reach out.\u00a0 Now, that said, if a homeowner thinks they should have heard, we welcome them to contact us.\u00a0 In fact our webpage will have a form that they can fill out that we will then contact the administrator and say, \u201cThis person hasn\u2019t heard yet.\u00a0 Is there a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Idaho Office of the Attorney General<\/p>

Idaho Deputy Attorney General Brett DeLange<\/p><\/div>\n

We want to help citizens.\u00a0 So down the road a ways, if someone says, \u201cI think I should have heard by now,\u201d then they\u2019ll have the ability to\u00a0 tell us and we will contact the administrator for them.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Are there particular dates homeowners should be aware of, if they are waiting to be contacted?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Right now there are not, but what I would suggest people do is go to our website<\/a>. (A second website dedicated to the settlement is here<\/a>.)\u00a0 We\u2019re finalizing it, but our website should be up fairly soon, and there will be plenty of notices and announcements.\u00a0 People then will be able to learn more in detail and carefully.\u00a0 Right now, I don\u2019t have dates to tell you, but we will be disclosing that to people.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>For the 5,000 borrowers in Idaho who we know lost their homes due to ‘robo-signing’ and substandard mortgage practices, they will get payments averaging $1,500 to $2,000.<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>That\u2019s true.\u00a0 Part of the settlement is for people who lost their home due to one of these untoward practices.\u00a0 They will be identified and offered the settlement check.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>But for the most part the money is going to come as a reduction in loan payments, is that right?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Well, for people who are still in their homes, that\u2019s where some of these other benefits kick into play.\u00a0 It may be a reduction in principal.\u00a0 It may be a refinancing.\u00a0 Some people, you know, are in homes that are underwater.\u00a0 They have a high interest rate, but they can\u2019t qualify to refinance.\u00a0 Well, this will allow some refinancing, lower interest rates, the goal being to help these people keep their home, and make their payments so that they don\u2019t end up facing foreclosure.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>As you\u2019ve indicated, some underwater homeowners will be eligible and some will not.<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Well, part of the eligibility is with respect to people whose mortgages are owned by one of the settling defendants.\u00a0 There are a lot of mortgages in Idaho where the mortgages are not owned by the settling defendants.\u00a0 They could be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.\u00a0 Well, those people will not have an opportunity for a financial benefit.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>In other words, this will help a minority of underwater homeowners in the state.<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Yes, because while the banks involved are the five largest, the mortgages they own are probably less than 30 percent of all the mortgages in the state.\u00a0 There\u2019s other banks.\u00a0 There\u2019s Freddie and Fannie.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>We know the total settlement amount for Idaho.\u00a0 It\u2019s nearly $100 million going to borrowers.\u00a0 Do you know how many people that\u2019s likely to include?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>It\u2019s probably best to say it will be in excess of 10,000.\u00a0 Beyond that I\u2019m really speculating.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Do you know what percentage of underwater borrowers in Idaho that is?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>I don\u2019t, at this time.\u00a0 At one time there was the estimate, in the Treasure Valley, for example, that a third of the homes were underwater.\u00a0 That number is getting a little dated, but it gives you a sense of the size of the problem.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Do you have a sense of what this could do to assist Idaho\u2019s housing market?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>I think it will assist in a couple of ways.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to change the marketplace, in terms of how mortgage foreclosure and servicing are done, and that will be a great help to our citizens.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be treated better.\u00a0 They\u2019ll get better information.\u00a0 They will be in a position to make better judgments as a result.\u00a0 So that\u2019s a plus.<\/p>\n

Secondly, with respect to the money, the large share \u2013 almost $89 million \u2013 is going to be helping people keep their homes and pay their mortgages so that they aren\u2019t foreclosed and don\u2019t have to move.\u00a0 That should have a tremendous assist to homeowners throughout the state.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Idaho got roughly $100 million.\u00a0 How was that determined?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Actually, we do better than many states.\u00a0 It\u2019s a function to some degree of the fact that foreclosure and the housing crisis has hit our state harder than quite a few other states.\u00a0 If you look at $100 million for Idaho, well, we\u2019re twice what some other states are getting that have populations two or three times larger than us.\u00a0 But that\u2019s a function of the housing crisis.\u00a0 It hit us harder than a number of those states.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and shortened.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To get a better understanding of how yesterday’s $26 billion dollar mortgage settlement will affect Idaho borrowers, StateImpact spoke to Brett DeLange, the Consumer Protection Division Chief for the Idaho attorney general’s office.\u00a0 While the settlement is facing criticism and questions about its worth to homeowners, DeLange says thousands in Idaho stand to benefit. Q: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":4758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[40,46],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4772,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4753\/revisions\/4772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}