The fall out from non-performing mortgages and foreclosure abuses have led to costs of just under $66 billion for the nations five largest banks.
According to data from Bloomberg News, the addition of new claims filed by the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) and AIG will continue to push that total up to twice the current amount.
Bank of America has suffered the biggest costs to date with $39.1 billion since the start of 2007. JPMorgan Chase was second with $16.3 billion. Wells Fargo ranked third with $5.09 billion in losses. Ally (formerly GMAC) at $3.28 billion in costs and Citigroup at $1.9 billion made up the last of the top five.
In computing the losses, Bloomberg, said data was compiled data from regulatory filings, company statements and financial presentations by the five largest lenders in the U.S.
At issue with the costs is the "representations and warranties" that were included with the sale of mortgage-backed securities. These guarantees provided assurance that the loans bundled into the securities met certain criteria for quality and structure. Lenders agreed to buy back mortgages or cover losses in the event that they were based upon inaccurate or missing data.
With the increase in foreclose activity in August, where default notices jumped by 33% and foreclosure filings increasing 7%, analysts project that the banks will continue to face more claims and costs until the housing market begins to stabilize.
