This is really and truly the last straw. It is. Contact everybody you know.
Phoenix Business Journal on the sweep of homeowner designated funds into the general fund:
The Arizona Legislature signed off on a 2013 state budget Tuesday that sweeps $50 million from a $97.8 million fund Arizona received from the national settlement with mortgage servicers to the state’s general fund.
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The landmark $26 billion national settlement with Ally Financial Inc, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. will require the banks to spend about $20 billion to reduce loan balances for borrowers who face foreclosure, and to work with borrowers who are under water and want to refinance.
According to court settlement documents, the $97.8 million Arizona fund is for preventing foreclosures, enhancing law enforcement, prosecuting mortgage fraud and to compensate the state for losses incurred as a result of mortgage fraud. The funds can also be used to provide funding for housing counselors, foreclosure assistance hotlines, foreclosure mediation programs, legal assistance, housing remediation and anti-blight projects, training and staffing of financial fraud or consumer protection enforcement efforts and to pay civil penalties, among other uses, according to court papers.
The settlement payment is to be made to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. That office also is supposed to oversee the use of the $97.8 million fund and to hold the money in a separate court-ordered trust fund, court documents show.
Beth Findsen Attorney 