Bank of America set to pay $17B over mortgage practices

Bank of America is expected to pay a record-setting settlement of roughly $17 billion with the Justice Department over shoddy mortgage practices.

The announcement of an agreement over the bank’s packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the 2008 financial crisis could come as early as Thursday, according to news reports.

{mosads}Speculation about the government and Bank of America finally nearing a deal after months of talks emerged earlier this month.

The bank is expected to pay about $10 billion in cash to the Justice Department and various other government groups, and $7 billion to consumers for mortgage relief and other help.

An agreement would set a record for penalties and damages in a civil settlement between the government and a business.

Bank of America also would have to concede that it misrepresented the quality of its mortgage securities.

The agreement comes after JPMorgan Chase paid $13 billion in November over similar issues. Last month, Citigroup agreed to a $7 billion deal over its sale of bad mortgage-backed securities running up to the financial crisis.