Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and three other residential servicers agreed to pay $25 million to New York State to resolve certain monetary claims over the use of the MERS database after reaching a $25 billion national settlement on robo-signing charges.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued BofA, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo in February over their use of the electronic mortgage registry known as MERS, accusing the lender/servicers of deceiving homeowners and conducting improper foreclosures.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the settlement also includes Citigroup, and the government controlled Ally Financial. The agreement was filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington.
The five lenders agreed in February to a $25 billion settlement with 49 states and the federal government to resolve claims of abusive foreclosure practices. That settlement requires a federal judge's approval.
BofA, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup each agreed to pay $5.9 million to New York, according to the court filing. Ally agreed to pay $1.25 million.
But Ally and Citigroup aren't named in the New York MERS lawsuit. The nationwide foreclosure settlement preserves claims raised against the banks in the New York case and any similar claims that may be asserted against Citigroup and Ally, according to the court filing.
Danny Kanner, a spokesman for Schneiderman, said in a phone interview that the agreement resolves some monetary claims against the banks. The core claims of the lawsuit will proceed, he said.
