The Justice Department announced today Bank of America and Morgan Stanley have agreed to pay roughly $22 million in settlement money to members of the U.S. military. The government accused the banks of illegally foreclosing on 200 active-duty servicemembers, according to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department alleged the foreclosures violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a law which protects active-duty troops from foreclosures and other credit and rent related problems while they're deployed. Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general with the Justice Department, said in a statement:
Some troops were actually in Afghanistan and Iraq when the banks foreclosed on their houses, according to Perez. I'm guessing the presidents of those banks don't have "Support our Troops" magnets on the backs of their SUVs.
