The mortgage relief pact is a model for transparency. But
some say consumers didn't get enough help.
For the first time in history, government
prosecutors got to play Robin Hood. They took billions of dollars
from the banks, and they gave it—at least much of it—
to needy consumers in the form of mortgage relief. So when monitor
Joseph Smith Jr. submitted his final report on the landmark
National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) in March, he signed off on what
might be the riskiest, most unusual and even revolutionary
government deal ever undertaken.
It was a redistribution of wealth by government fiat. Court
documents in the 2012 settlement contained a statement of facts
that accused five major banks of committing mortgage abuses in
their loan servicing and foreclosures just before, during and after
the 2008 financial crisis, when millions of residents lost their
homes. But rather than just collect huge fines from the banks, the
government made them commit at least $20
