Hawaii announces state mortgage settlement

HONOLULU (AP) -- More than 1,400 Hawaii borrowers will receive checks of $1,480 as part of claims paid for likely mortgage servicing abuse, the Hawaii attorney general announced Tuesday.

The 1,413 eligible borrowers lost homes to foreclosure between January 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, and were required to submit a valid foreclosure payment claim. The deadline for applying has passed.

Attorney General David Louie said the checks are drawn from a $1.5 billion payment pool negotiated as part of the National Mortgage Settlement.

Hawaii borrowers are in line for just more than $2 million.

"These payments help compensate borrowers for the mortgage servicing abuse that they likely endured," Louie said in a statement. "And I'm pleased that the final amount of $1,480 is much higher than the minimum amount we first announced, which was $840."

Hawaii was one of 49 states that participated with the federal government in the settlement with Ally, formerly GMAC, plus Bank of America Corp., Citi, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's five largest lenders.

The payments, Louie said, are part of efforts to hold banks accountable.

"In addition to compensating borrowers for the servicing abuse that happened in the past, we're trying to stop these practices through the settlement's tough new mortgage servicing standards," he said.

Payments do not limit borrowers from seeking additional relief through other claims or lawsuits, he said.

The settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, will mail payments starting Monday.