Banks report $51 billion in consumer relief in mortgage settlement

The aid, including lower monthly payments, forgiven mortgage principal and short sales, has gone to 643,726 people from March 1, 2012, through June 30, according to a report from the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight.

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The banks get credits for various types of homeowner relief, which is why the total relief provided adds up to more than double the $20 billion. For example, each dollar forgiven in a short sale results in a credit of 45 cents if the bank owns the loan and 20 cents if it is held by investors. [Thus,] much of the relief is not being provided with the banks' own money.

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Bank of America and JPMorgan said in May that they had fulfilled their settlement obligations, but Smith said his office still is working to confirm that. In the report released Thursday, Bank of America said it had provided $27.9 billion in total relief as of June 30, and Chase said it had provided $11.2 billion.

Residential Capital reported $658 million in total relief, Wells Fargo $8 billion and Citigroup Inc. $3.5 billion.

Separately, Wells Fargo said Thursday that it had settlement credits totaling $4.4 billion, which is more than the $4.3 billion the bank had committed to provide. Wells Fargo said the 123,000 modifications, refinancings and other assistance provided under the settlement were slightly less than 2% of all the bank's consumer relief efforts during that period.