A massive settlement has been reached between the government and five of the nation's biggest banks over foreclosure abuses and relief. Our partner The New York Times says the $ 26 billion deal will be doled out to 2 million homeowners. It's part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market's downward slide and holding banks accountable. Joining the program is Nelson Schwartz, business reporter with our partner, The Times.

Since early 2007, 4 million families have lost their homes to foreclosure. Only now have state officials around the country begun to finalize a multi-billion dollar settlement with the biggest mortgage-providing banks that engaged in abusive or misleading practices, like robo-signing. Some critics, including those who have already had their homes go underwater, worry that it may let the banks off too easily.

The impact of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations around the country is difficult to see in raw numbers. But the way in which the national discourse has been moved, and how individual lives have been changed tells another compelling story of the movement's potential. The families in millions of households across the nation who are fighting to hold onto their homes against banks, authority, and the much reviled "1 percent" may have a powerful new ally. Occupy Our Homes, the latest incarnation of the OWS, is seizing foreclosed homes and claiming them for families in need.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a suit against Bank of America, JP-Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage, accusing them of "unfair and deceptive business practices." She is seeking damages for borrowers who were hurt by these banks foreclosure practices, which range from filing fraudulent legal paperwork to the use of so-called "robo-signers" and refusing to follow lending laws.

A report by RealtyTrac on Thursday revealed default notices filed by banks — which represent the first step in the foreclosure process —were up 33 percent in August from July. Many analysts believe this is due to banks beginning to clear backlogged filings caused by the robo-signing controversy of 2010, which created a de facto moratorium on foreclosures around the country. In California, filings were up even more than the average at 55 percent, and in New Jersey levels of default notices reached 42 percent.

It doesn't take a scientist to conclude that going through the foreclosure process is stressful. Even the threat of being foreclosed on can make one's blood pressure rise. But science can show the very real effects that these tough economic times are having on America's health. A new study links the rise in foreclosures to more hospital visits related to diabetes and hypertension. More specifically, for every 100 foreclosures there was a 7.2 percent rise in emergency room visits, an 8.1 percent increase in diabetes cases for people aged 20 to 49, and 12 percent more hospital visits related to anxiety in the same age category.

The Treasury Department was given $46 billion to keep homeowners in their houses in 2009, but has spent less than $2 billion of that money. In April, there were more than four million mortgages in foreclosure or 90 days delinquent. The New York Times' Andrew Martin says that the primary cause of foreclosures is unemployment and that the U.S. government has not focused nearly enough attention on the problem. 

A dip in housing prices is causing concerns that we might be headed for a double-dip in the market this spring. Louise Story, Wall Street and Finance Reporter for The New York Times, says the latest housing numbers out by the Case-Shiller Index raises more questions than answers about the housing market in the near term.

Big banks and over-committed mortgage-holders have been under the foreclosure microscope for a long time. Foreclosure lawyers are next up for scrutiny; according to an article from The New York Times, an increasing number of judges are accusing lawyers of processing inaccurate and even fabricated documents in foreclosure actions when representing banks. Are these accusations accurate, and if so, what is the source of the problem? 

Over the past two years, we’ve been told to expect a silver lining to the housing crisis.  At a first glance, the release of tomorrow’s foreclosure numbers should add to that optimism, as analysts expect the number of new foreclosures to drop dramatically.  But does that mean we’ve truly passed the worst moments of the housing crisis?

As foreclosures continue around the country, neighborhoods — and the important social fabric they create in communities — are taking a hit. 

Shares of financial companies dropped yesterday on concerns about how reviews of home-foreclosure practices will affect their balance sheets. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for our partner, The New York Times, has been looking at analyses of how hard the blow may be for banks, and how long it might last.

Some home owners are putting a halt to their foreclosures by pointing to flaws in the bank's paperwork. It's even leading to some backs putting a moratorium on all their foreclosure proceedings. We're asking about the times you stood up to institutions like this. When have you faced off with your bank, your phone company, your cable provider? What happened?

There’s so much focus put on homeowners and the problems they're facing in our current economic climate, but what about all the renters out there? There’s been a 10 percent increase in renters in the past five years according to the Census Bureau, and a whole new world of problems as landlords face the threat of foreclosure and instability. What are these issues? And what are a renter’s current rights?

Every Monday, we take a look at the big stories in the week ahead. This week's Agenda, covers foreclosures, midterm elections, calls for UN peace keepers in  Sudan and the Nobel Prize in Economics.

JP Morgan Chase has suspended the legal proceedings around 50,000 foreclosures because the documents involved may have been processed incorrectly.

Overwhelmed by the housing crisis, mortgage companies hired employees to process foreclosure documents as quickly as possible, without ever reading, reviewing or verifying the cases before them. The process is called "robo-signing," and it accounts for an alarming number of seized homes. By some reports, these hired clerks were approving ten thousand foreclosures a month—some of them in error.

During the past two years, we’ve heard over and over again that there’s a silver lining to our housing crisis: Now that home prices have dropped, buying property has suddenly become much more affordable.

Prices are low, negotiation opportunities are high, and interest rates are their lowest since the 1950s. But is buying really the right thing for you? Or is renting financially wiser?

What information are you looking for for as you make decisions about your house or apartment? And if you're renting, what would it take you to buy? Tell us what you're waiting for to decide and we'll make it part of the discussion.

This year, the housing market dropped like a stone before slowing and gaining, somewhat. But how much longer until Americans feel ready to buy? We talk with housing expert Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Case-Shiller home-price index, to review 2009's housing downs and ups.

• Health Care Reform Takeout: Our own Todd Zwillich describes the balancing act Senate Democrats are performing as they try to move health care reform forward.
• Property Takeout: Denver Post reporter Michael Booth walks us through government-seized assets now on sale from the FDIC.
• Listener Takeout: We hear from you about holiday parties, jobs and why you think Disney princesses aren't the best role models for little girls, no matter their race.
  

There are more than 6.7 million U.S. households with mortgages that are behind on their payments or are in the foreclosure process. It may look like we're a long way from the house-flipping that helped create the housing bubble, but there's a new breed of flipping that's started in places like Florida. We talk to Michael Braga, investigative reporter for The Sarasota Herald Tribune, along with Larry Furman, who is a home owner facing a reset on his adustable rate mortgage.