U.S. Bank (USB) is in talks with the Justice Department and state attorneys general to sign onto the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement struck in March.
The bank services roughly $207.4 billion in mortgages, including loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is one of the 10 largest servicers in the country.
U.S. Bank set aside $130 million for fines paid under the larger settlement between the government and the five largest firms – if it chooses to. Other servicing executives have said the settlement will spread.
“The company has not agreed to any settlement at this point, however, if a settlement were reached it would likely include an agreement to comply with specified servicing standards, and settlement payments to governmental authorities as well as a monetary commitment that could be satisfied under various loan modification programs,” the bank said in its filing.
In addition to fines paid directly to state governments, the largest banks committed to billions more in homeowner relief.
U.S. Bank was one of the 14 firms that signed consent orders with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in April 2011 over the same foreclosure abuses.
The Fed and OCC designated fines to be paid under the consent orders only if the servicers fail to provide the promised relief under the settlement with the AGs and the DOJ.
However, the mid-size servicers face much smaller penalties. MetLife (MET) agreed this week to pay $3.2 million under the consent order.
“The banking regulators have the company of civil money penalties related to the consent orders, however, these penalties are not significant,” U.S. Bank said in its filing.
