States Attorneys General, Including Virginia's Cuccinelli, Agree to Let Five Big Banks Off Easy With $25 Billion Fraudclosure Settlement

At the heart of the matter is MERS, the Mortgage Electronic Registration System and the five big banks holding 55% or 27 million active mortgages.  For years, mortgages have been funneled through MERS but they are without the proper titles and liens on the underlying paper.  This settlement is an attempt to put the MERS scandal to bed.  Despite the NYT headline, this is not a deal for home "owners."  The settlement breaks down to about $2,000 per transaction for "the cost of riding roughshod over 300 years of real estate law."  This slaponthewrist lets banks continue on their merry; it's not going to do anything to help find the bottom in housing.