WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama praised the "landmark" $25 billion settlement between federal and state authorities and the top five mortgage servicers, saying it would "begin to turn the page on an era of recklessness that has left so much damage in its wake."
"No compensation, no amount of money, no measure of justice is enough to make it right for a family who's had their piece of the American dream wrongly taken from them," Obama said in remarks to the press on Thursday. "No action, no matter how meaningful is going to by itself entirely heal the housing market. But this settlement is a start."
Obama reiterated that authorities are still focused — through a new joint mortgage fraud task force made up of state and federal officials — on probing lending practices that led to the crisis, and again called for a bill allowing mass refinancings for underwater borrowers.
Under legislation proposed by the administration, the new refinancing push would be paid for by fees on the largest banks.
"It's only going to happen if Congress musters the will to act," Obama said. "I ask every American to raise their voice and demand that they do, because there really is no excuse for inaction. There's no excuse for doing nothing to help more families avoid foreclosure."
