Homeowners Who Submitted Foreclosure Settlement Claims to Receive About $1,400

State officials announced Tuesday that mortgage borrowers who submitted a valid foreclosure payment claim through the National Mortgage Settlement program will receive a check this month for approximately $1,480.

The settlement checks, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said in a statement, are part of a $25 billion joint state-federal settlement that New Jersey joined in 2012. The settlement resolved a national investigation into alleged foreclosure abuses, fraud and unacceptable business practices by the country’s five largest mortgage servicers.

The five settling mortgage servicers are Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

About 5,300 New Jersey borrowers will receive the checks, with the overall dollar amount being paid out to borrowers set at about $7.76 million.

Nationally, designated settlement administrator Rust Consulting will mail 962,278 valid claim payments from June 10 through June 17.

The $1,480 figure is an average payment, officials said.

Some borrowers will receive a check for less than that, such as those who 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. Payments could also be delayed for people who have outstanding tax issues which must be addressed.

Chiesa said in the statement that the money being paid to New Jersey borrowers comes from a $1.5 billion payment pool negotiated and set aside by the states as part of the National Mortgage Settlement.

The claim payments do not preclude borrowers from seeking relief through their own legal action.

"These payments are part of the effort to compensate borrowers for the mortgage servicing abuses they experienced," said Chiesa. "In addition, we believe the strict new mortgage servicing standards negotiated by the states as part of the National Mortgage Settlement will be effective in discouraging similar practices in the future."

New Jersey was one of 49 states that joined the investigation and settlement process with the five lenders.

Every borrower who filed a claim will receive a letter regarding their outcome, the statement said. Borrowers with questions about their National Mortgage Settlement payment are being directed to call settlement administrator Rust Consulting at 1-866-430-8358.