BofA Coughs It Up|for Illegal Foreclosures

(CN) - Bank of America will pay $116,785 to each military servicemember whose home was unlawfully foreclosed upon, plus compensation for lost equity, the Justice Department said. It's the largest settlement ever under the Servicemember Civil Relief Act.

The payments are part of a settlement between the federal government and Bank of America subsidiary BAC Home Loans Servicing, fka Countrywide Home Loans Servicing.

Bank of America agreed to pay $20 million to about 160 members of the armed forces whose homes were foreclosed on illegally between 2006 and the middle of 2009. It also must provide information about its foreclosures from mid 2009-2010, and pay the same minimum amount for each of those illegal foreclosures.

Beginning today (Nov. 14) letters will be sent to 157 servicemembers to notify them of the money that they may receive under the settlement.

The Justice Department has until the end of the month to determine the damages to which servicemembers may be entitled, under the agreement.

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