The mortgage settlement announced today is another sad example of Wall Street not being held accountable for fraud, perjury, and crimes that created the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. It follows an all-too-common practice of accepting settlements that let banks, their officers and employees off the hook in exchange for a pathetically paltry penalty,” said Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, a nonprofit group promoting the public interest in financial markets.

“The American people at a minimum deserve to know what laws these megabanks violated and how they did it so everyone knows what they are getting off the hook for.  The banks must be required to post all documents relating to their conduct on the web so that everyone can see what they did and if this settlement was a sellout.  That simply must be part of the price for settling years of unconscionable, fraudulent, and likely criminal conduct that has victimized tens of millions of American families, hollowed out countless neighborhoods, and stuck millions of homeowners with underwater mortgages through no fault of their own,” Mr. Kelleher said.

“The proposed $26 billion deal is a slap on the wrist given that most of it will go to ‘loan forgiveness,’ which is not equal to cash. There are more than 10 million homes underwater with an estimated negative equity of $700 billion. The math does not add up in a massive ‘robo-signing’ scandal that is nothing more than systemic criminal conduct. The banks or their contractors fraudulently signed legal documents under oath in support of the legal application to foreclose.  It’s not a ‘paperwork issue’ as the banks have claimed, but lying under oath to get someone thrown onto the street. That is a crime and should be treated as such,” Mr. Kelleher added.

For more information read the following blog post: Robo-Signing Bank Settlement is a Criminal Sell Out