Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her office’s intention to allocate $300 million from national mortgage settlement funds distributed to the state.
The majority of the funds will be used to help distressed homeowners and fund housing initiatives that provide down payment assistance and foreclosure relief for borrowers.
This distribution is in addition to the $7.5 billion in relief already allotted to Florida homeowners from the $25 billion national mortgage settlement. The settlement was reached by state AGs and the nation’s largest mortgage servicers to settle robosigning and foreclosure handling issues.
This week, Bondi plans to attend the state’s legislative budget commission to gain approval to distribute $60 million in settlement funds to help specifically with foreclosure-assistance and counseling efforts as well as down payment assistance.
The remainder of the funds, which accounts for roughly $200 million, will be spent on housing initiatives that have to be defined.
Bondi’s office said those funds could support multiple efforts such as affordable housing development, neighborhood revitalization, foreclosure prevention and homebuyer and renter assistance.
The state attorneys general and the Department of Justice filed the settlement with the top five mortgage servicers, to address improprieties in document handling..
The deal announced in February totals $25 billion, of which $20 billion will be provided as relief to struggling homeowners. Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Ally Financial and Citigroup (C)each signed on.
