Mortgage settlement may bring $600 million to Washington

Tens of thousands of Washington homeowners may be eligible for aid in refinancing their homes or cash if they've already lost their house through foreclosure under the $25 billion mortgage settlement announced today.

All the details are posted online at nationalmortgagesettlement.com.

Under the deal, roughly $1.5 billion is for direct payouts, in the form of $2,000 checks, for about 750,000 Americans who were unfairly or improperly foreclosed upon. Another $3.5 billion will go directly to states.

There's also at least $10 billion for reducing mortgage amounts, up to $7 billion for other state homeowner programs and at least $3 billion for refinancing loans for homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but who are underwater.

For Washington, as much as $605 million may be distributed through the various programs spelled out in the deal, according to Attorney General Rob McKenna who was one of eight AGs involved in the yearlong negotiations.

“Our settlement holds America's largest banks accountable for harms homeowners suffered from shoddy loan servicing, illegal robo-signing and faulty foreclosure processing,” McKenna said in a statement. "From the beginning, we have worked to help homeowners harmed by the banks' corner-cutting and to implement strict new loan servicing and foreclosure standards to prevent future harm."

Here's a more detailed story on the settlement

Attached is a pie chart of what Washington can expect to receive. You can also find information on the attorney general website.