LAS VEGAS (AP) - Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid
says Nevada homeowners victimized by foreclosure abuses could reap about $1.5 billion from a sweeping settlement with the nation's
biggest mortgage lenders.

Reid made his comments on the Senate floor Thursday, after the
settlement became public.

Reid says in a statement that he knows more is needed to help
homeowners get back on their feet, but he's confident the deal will
bring relief to mortgage holders in Nevada and across the nation.

Nevada is among 49 states joining the settlement. Only Oklahoma didn't join.

The agreement gives Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells
Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial three years to reduce loans for
nearly 1 million households. About 750,000 homeowners who were
improperly foreclosed upon will get $2,000 checks.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - An analyst says the $1.5 billion that Nevada
homeowners could get from a sweeping settlement with the nation's
biggest mortgage lenders represents "a drop in the bucket" in the
state hardest hit by foreclosures.

Nasser Daneshvary heads the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

He tallies 100,000 foreclosures in the last four years, with
another 400,000 homeowners owing more than their houses are worth.

Applied Analysis in Las Vegas says homeowners in southern Nevada
lost $91 billion in equity since 2008.