Horne: Mortgage settlement funds to aid Arizona homeowners
Sep 24, 2012, 4:28 PM | Updated: 4:28 pm
Arizona will be using $57 million from a major mortgage settlement to help struggling homeowners keep their homes, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said.
“You may have people who bought responsibly and then they experienced economic setbacks that were not their fault and they can still make payments, but they can’t make the full payment,” he said. “By helping them out, we can keep them in their homes, the mortgage holder is better off. Sometimes getting paid less than the full amount is better than proceeding with a foreclosure.”
Horne said $41 million will go directly to help homeowners. The rest of the funds will be used for enforcement, counseling, legal and outreach programs.
Some funds will also be used to support non-profit mortgage assistance groups and veteran housing.
In total, Arizona netted about $3.5 billion. The rest of the money will be administered by banks.