Michigan to share in mortgage industry settlement of foreclosure complaints

 The state of Michigan is expected to reap a half billion dollars from a settlement between 40 states and five of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders.  

Michigan has been among the hardest hit states in the foreclosure crisis. The settlement will help homeowners who were in foreclosure between 2008 and 2011.

Bank of America, Ally Financial,  Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup are the banks in the settlement.   The deal will settle complaints the mortgage lenders wrongly foreclosed on borrowers and forged documents.

Part of the deal involves helping homeowners,.who owe more than their homes are worth, to refinance their mortgages.      

Jon Sellek is with Michigan’s Attorney General’s office.  He says it’s not know yet how many Michigan homeowners will be able to do that under this settlement.

“But we’re talking about literally thousands and thousands of people in Michigan that will benefit from this," says Sellek,  "It’s a huge group of people that will benefit and we look forward to them getting that assistance.”

The exact size of the national settlement is unclear.

California, New York, Nevada, Florida and several other states have not signed on to the agreement.