The U.S. Justice Department announced on December 21, 2011 that Bank of America agreed to a $335 million settlement for racial bias allegations in connection with Countrywide Financial mortgage loans. This is the largest residential fair lending settlement in history, according to the New York Times.

As if the foreclosure situation in Florida wasn’t already fraught with issues of title and proper ownership, an Osceola County, Florida man has compounded the problem by placing himself on more than 100 deeds to foreclosed properties. The deeds are improper because the man, named Jacob Dyck, convinced homeowners to sign a deed to the property over to Dyck in exchange for a fee and rent.