WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) today applauded the foreclosure settlement involving multiple states, including Maryland, with five banks that were at the heart of the foreclosure crisis as “a very positive move forward for the approximately 40,000 former and current Maryland homeowners who will benefit from this settlement.”

The Senator praised the efforts of Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in reaching a settlement with five of the largest mortgage servicers — Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ally Financial and Citigroup.  The nearly $26 billion settlement will help borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure reduce the amount they owe on their mortgages, lower their interest rates and pay restitution to homeowners who have suffered mortgage related abuse. It also will institute better mortgage servicing practices that will help all Americans.

“We need to help homeowners become whole again and we need to put the housing crisis behind us,” said Senator Cardin.  “This settlement is a good first step as we work to keep more people in their homes and restore fairness and trust to our housing market.  While it won’t help everyone, the settlement both guarantees better practices by the banks going forward and provides some help to those who were harmed by the previous irresponsible behavior of such banks.” The foreclosure settlement will provide almost a $1billion to help at least 40,000 Maryland homeowners. 

Senator Cardin also said he supports President Obama’s proposed task force to investigate mortgage misconduct by the banks and continued investigations by states into the foreclosure crisis, as well as federal and state efforts to help borrowers avoid default and remain current on their mortgage payments.   The Senator added that “all levels of government must work together to keep families in their homes and restore prosperity to the housing market.  To this end, I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to support efforts in Maryland and nationally.”

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