DOJ settles with BoA on foreclosure fraud with military families: Baggers of fire complain

Last weekend I spent some time trying to understand the status of the foreclosure fraud settlement negotiations between over 40 State Attorney Generals, 5 banks and 5 federal agencies. This week we learned that DOJ has reached a settlement with BoA over similar charges as they relate to military families.

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of its settlement with BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, servicemembers whose homes were unlawfully foreclosed upon will each receive a minimum $116,785 plus compensation for any equity lost to compensate them for the bank’s alleged violation of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Bank of America agreed to pay $20 million to approximately 160 servicemembers who were illegally foreclosed on between 2006 and the middle of 2009.

Now that's what I call justice for the military families affected by this kind of fraud!!!

Perhaps that justice is a result of only having two parties in the settlement negotiations instead of the 50 or more involved in talks led by the state AG's. But perhaps its also a reflection of what the DOJ is committed to doing on these kinds of cases. You'd think that folks calling on Holder & Co to hold these banks accountable would be cheering their efforts here. And of course, you'd be wrong. (warning: firebagger link)

So what are the baggers of fire up in a roar about over this one? To tell you the truth, the so-called "logic" really does boggle the mind.

First of all, they want to complain because "reports" (ie, unattributed leaks) of what is currently under consideration in the state AG's case don't compensate non-military families to the same extent. So its really preemptory whining about a case that hasn't been settled yet. I guess its impossible to celebrate a victory for military families due to rumors over something that hasn't happened yet.

Secondly...there were no "perp walks."

As the Justice Department states clearly, violating the SCRA, particularly through an illegal foreclosure while the servicemember is in service, is considered a criminal misdemeanor “which is punishable by a sentence of up to one year imprisonment.”... Even this extraction of justice falls short.

I can only assume that a firebagged brain can't understand the difference between criminal charges and a settlement. The later is designed as an alternative to the former. So the question becomes, would it have been better to send a few people to jail or find a way to compensate the victims? DOJ rightly chose the later.

The final argument is that this settlement won't end foreclosure fraud. All I have to say to that one is that if our entire criminal justice system were assessed on the same criteria, we'd toss the whole thing out the window (not a completely bad idea, but then you'd have to figure out an alternative - which this writer never suggests).

There's part of me that knows I ought to give up trying to find some actual reasoning from these people. Its clear that no matter what this administration accomplishes, they'll find a way to twist it into something nefarious. When military families get $116,785+ in compensation for foreclosure fraud and they STILL can't celebrate a win, they never will.