SunTrust Mortgage settlement to benefit Idahoans

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced a $550 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender SunTrust Mortgage Inc., designed to address mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosure abuses.

"While Idaho's housing crisis has stabilized, my office continues to hold mortgage servicers accountable for past abuses," Wasden said in a press release Tuesday. "This settlement requires SunTrust to change not only how it services future loans, but to provide relief to current Idaho customers."

The three-year settlement includes Idaho and 48 other states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The deal resembles the National Mortgage Settlement, brokered in February 2012, involving the federal government, Idaho and 48 other states and the five largest national mortgage servicers. Specifically, the settlement reached with SunTrust requires the company to:

* Provide Idaho borrowers an estimated $479,448 worth of loan modifications, including principal reductions and refinances

* Make direct payments to approximately 220 eligible Idaho borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2013

* Implement strict servicing standards that will change how it services mortgage loans and handles foreclosures

* Submit to an independent monitor's oversight authority.

As additional information about the settlement becomes available, the Attorney General will post it on his website at www.ag.idaho.gov.

Current borrowers may contact SunTrust if they have questions about their eligibility for a loan modification or qualify for certain forms of relief. The toll-free number is 1-800-634-7928, and the website is www.SunTrustMortgage.com.