Report: Bank of America could pay more than $12B for shoddy mortgage practices

One of the nation’s largest banks is in talks with the Justice Department and several states to pay billions over their poor mortgage practices. 

Bank of America could pay more than $12 billion to end an investigation by federal and state authorities into their shoddy loan processes, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening.

{mosads}The report said that $5 billion would compensate consumers harmed by the bank’s conduct, which could help reduce principal and month payments.

The Charlotte-based bank also paid $27.3 billion — they were credited for $9.6 billion — in a national mortgage settlement that centered around lax foreclosure policies, mostly robo-signings, where banks signed off on the foreclosure process without all of the proper paperwork.

Based on the final result, Bank of America could match or exceed the $13 billon settlement paid by JP Morgan Chase in November.

Bank of America has already agreed to a $6 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.