State attorneys general reportedly have until today to agree to a potential $25 billion settlement with big mortgage lender/servicers namely Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Under the latest iteration being voted on, about $17 billion of that amount would consist of penalties paid by the banks, which would be used for principal reductions. Another $5 billion would go toward a reserve account that would be used to pay $1,800 checks to homeowners affected by deceptive foreclosure practices, with $2 billion to $3 billion to go toward helping ...