Who Will Benefit from JPMorgan's Record Mortgage Penalty?

Ben Protess and Jessica Silver-Greenberg provide a breakdown of how JPMorgan's $13 billion settlement over its sale of bad mortgage investments will be distributed to various public entities. How much will trickle down to struggling homeowners?

1 minute read

November 21, 2013, 2:00 PM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"The biggest winner is the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when the companies collapsed in 2008," note Protess and Silver-Greenberg. "JPMorgan agreed to make a 'lump sum payment' of $4 billion “payable to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, divided between them,' according to the settlement agreement."

Another large chunk ($4 billion) will go towards helping homeowners. "Half of that sum, or $2 billion, will go toward reducing the balance of mortgages and halting the collection of mortgage payments," Protess and Silver-Greenberg explain. "The remaining $2 billion in homeowner relief, according to the Justice Department, will focus on reducing interest rates on existing loans, offering new loans to low-income home buyers and demolishing abandoned homes to curb urban blight."

The United States Treasury, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and several states will also receive a share of the settlement.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 in The New York Times

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