WASHINGTON — Thousands of homeowners could gain some measure of mortgage relief under a record $13 billion deal reached Tuesday between the Justice Department and banking giant JPMorgan Chase, in what is the largest such government settlement with a single entity.
Long in the making, the settlement resolves allegations about the bank’s liability for financially toxic packages of mortgage-backed securities sold to unsuspecting investors. It includes $9 billion to settle federal claims and those from individual states like California, and $4 billion in consumer relief.
It is also, far and away, the most highly anticipated settlement to arise from the housing market crash and general economic calamity that came to a head in 2008.
“Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “JPMorgan was not the only financial institution during this period to knowingly bundle toxic loans and sell them to unsuspecting investors, but that is no excuse for the firm’s behavior. “
In the settlement, JPMorgan Chase acknowledged a set of facts laid out by the Justice Department, stopping short of an outright admission of guilt. The facts included a statement that JPMorgan Chase employees, not just those of lenders it had purchased, knowingly signed off on the sale of complex mortgage bonds that they knew did not meet compliance guidelines.
In a website statement, company CEO Jamie Dimon said he was “pleased to have concluded this extensive agreement” and said it covers a “very significant portion” of lawsuits involving it and two lenders it purchased in 2008.
The investigation included help from U.S. attorneys in New York, California, Delaware, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and does not does not close the book on Wall Street misdeeds, Holder warned.
