INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced today that checks will be sent out next week to eligible Indiana borrowers who are part of the National Mortgage Settlement.  
Eligible borrowers had their mortgage serviced by one of the settlement’s five participating mortgage servicers, lost their home to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011, and submitted a valid claim form. Eligible Hoosiers can expect a check for about $1,480 which will be dropped in the mail between Monday, June 10 and Monday, June 17.
The participating servicers include Ally (formerly GMAC), Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Zoeller said 18,448 checks totaling $26.3 million will be sent to Indiana consumers, and about 55.9 percent of eligible borrowers submitted a claim – which is comparable to the national response rate of 55 percent.
“These payments are meant to help compensate borrowers for mortgage servicing abuse," Zoeller said. “The National Mortgage Settlement payments and the new mortgage servicing standards under the review of a national monitor will help ensure the public is protected from similar errors in the future.”
Zoeller said the payment does not limit a borrower from seeking relief through a separate lawsuit or other claims.
Nationally, the settlement administrator will mail valid claim payments to 962,278 loan records totaling $1.5 billion from June 10 through June 17.
In February 2012, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government announced the historic joint state-federal National Mortgage Settlement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers.  Preliminary data shows that, so far, the servicers have provided more than $50 billion in direct settlement relief to borrowers nationwide, much more than originally expected.
A relatively small number of borrowers will not receive a check in the initial mailing or will receive a split payment.

• Some borrowers will receive a check for less than the approximate $1,480 payment in situations where borrowers are divorced or separated and no longer live at the same address. The full per-loan amount will be paid on these loans, but the payment will be evenly split between the borrowers.
• A small number of borrowers who submitted a claim form but do not have a valid Social Security number on file will be delayed in receiving their payments while tax-related issues are addressed.
• Two servicers recently provided information on an additional 31,000 borrowers, and thus they could not be included in this distribution. Later this summer, these consumers will receive a notice and will have the opportunity to submit a payment application.

Every borrower who filed a claim will receive a letter regarding their outcome. Borrowers with questions about their National Mortgage Settlement payment should call the settlement administrator at 1-866-430-8358.
Indiana's overall share of the settlement was about $145 million. Of that, approximately $100 million was used as direct assistance to Indiana borrowers who lost their homes due to foreclosure, or to distressed borrowers who seek to refinance and save their homes. The Indiana Attorney General’s Office received $43.8 million, with $28.8 million of that dedicated by the Legislature to the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the rest committed to the Consumer Protection Division and its Homeowner Protection Unit (HPU) and other efforts to prevent foreclosure.
"Indiana's Legislature wisely channeled the settlement funds my office received into a fund to assist low-income homeowners who were most at-risk to be foreclosed upon and also the most likely to have difficulty paying their energy bills," Zoeller said.  
National Mortgage Settlement, Independent Foreclosure Review payments are separate
The IFR settlement is unrelated and separate from the National Mortgage Settlement and does not include the same governmental agencies.  The IFR payments began in mid-April of 2013, and the OCC announced that final payments will be mailed in mid-July.  For more information on the OCC Independent Foreclosure Review settlement, go to www.OCC.gov and click on Independent Foreclosure Review.
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A spokesman for the Lake County Sheriffs Department says their Reconstruction Unit responded to the 14-hundred block of South Broad Street in unincorporated Griffith overnight to investigate a fatal motor vehicle crash involving a passenger vehicle and a dump truck hauling asphalt for a local construction project. Police say their preliminary investigation revealed that the dump truck was southbound on Broad Street when a northbound Pontiac crossed the double yellow center line and collided head-on with the oncoming truck. The driver of the dump truck, a 51-year-old Highland man, suffered no injuries, but was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and mandatory testing in accordance with INDOT regulations. Authorities say the 19 year old driver of the Pontiac, identified by the Lake County Coroners office today as Cody Lejeune (leh-zhoon') of Griffith, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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A Region native tells the Times today that if it weren't for a business trip, he could have been in the path of the same tornado that claimed the lives of three storm chasers. Matt Grzych [gher'-zitch], originally from Crown Point, works at Boeing Company, investigating the cause of airplane accidents, and started working with the longtime tornado researchers five years ago when he joined onto the field research program featured on the Discovery Channel's “Storm Chasers”. Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young were killed in a deadly tornado that hit the Oklahoma City area on Friday, and the National Weather Center says they are believed to be the first fatalities among storm chasers.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/crown-point/crown-point-native-faced-storms-side-by-side-with-tornado/article_ba756088-78e2-5d14-9a03-14d1c21c3480.html
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Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart says investigators working in Dolton found a gun they later learned was stolen in 2010 out of Gary. Authorities say a 32-year-old Chicago man scheduled to appear at the Markham Courthouse today has been charged with armed violence, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, child endangerment and other narcotics related charges. Dart says his department's Gun Suppression Team observed two vehicles in the street parked alongside each other and police allege the drivers conducted what appeared to be a narcotics transaction. Investigators conducted a traffic stop on one of the vehicles; the other sped away. Police say Armond Nelson of Chicago was scheduled to appear in bond court this morning at the Markham Courthouse. Nelson allegedly told investigators he purchased the gun from someone on the streets in Indiana.  Police say the suspect's five-year-old daughter was in the back seat, and was later turned over to family members.
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Indiana Blood Center says 45 positions are being eliminated and other changes are taking effect July first in light of shrinking revenue. The center also announced it was streamlining bloodmobile operations and closing a donor center in downstate Avon. The non-profit says demand for blood from their more than sixty member hospitals has decreased by 24-percent over the last year. The organization says they are funded by service fees they charge hospitals to recruit, collect, test, process, label, store and distribute blood.
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The Lake County Coroners office says a Griffith teenager was killed in a motor vehicle accident overnight. Authorities say 19-year-old Cody Lejeune was pronounced dead at the scene at two-o'clock this morning in the 14-hundred block of South Broad Street in Griffith. Officials say the Lake County Police Accident Reconstruction Team, Lake County Police Crime lab, and Schererville Fire Department are also investigating.
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In Buffalo Grove Illinois, the community's park district recently installed “adult behavior” signs – meant to remind grown-ups, parents, to behave themselves and keep their cool at children's sports activities. Closer to home here in the Region, Lowell parents whose children participate in middle and high school sports will be signing a “civility clause”. The Tri-Creek School Board has added that to their handbooks in an attempt to keep adult behavior in check. School officials are also specifying that only those with permission can take pictures or video of athletes during an event, to protect students.
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No injuries were reported in a helicopter crash at Lansing Airport. Authorities say two people on a Robinson Helicopter R-22, a single-engine light utility helicopter, were taking part in a training exercise when the aircraft crashed for unknown reasons shortly before 7-o'clock last night. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
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In Crown Point, the city council voted six-to-one in favor of allowing the sale of alcohol in city parks, but only in areas posted and designated by the city and Indiana Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The amendment to city law is specifically meant to allow beer sales in a fenced off area of adult league softball play at the city sports complex.
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A caucus of Democratic precinct committee members in Hammond Monday night chose Jack Uylaki as their new 2^nd District councilman. He'll serve the two years left on former councilman Al Salinas' term. Officials say Salinas, a longtime member of the council, resigned last month after pleading guilty to federal charges, including a felony bribery charge. Indiana law prohibits a convicted felon from holding public office.
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