Ally Fulfills Mortgage Settlement Mandates: Monitor

Ally Financial is the first company to fulfill its requirements under the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, its top monitor said Thursday.

Ally, which is 74% owned by the government, has provided $257 million in relief to consumers in the form of loan modifications, short sales and principal forgiveness, Joseph Smith, the settlement's monitor, said Thursday. Ally was required to provide at least $200 million.

Smith filed a report with the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia certifying that Ally has met its settlement obligations. Ally, formerly known as GMAC, received a partial certification for satisfying some of the mandatory requirements to solicit borrowers. Ally was the second-largest recipient of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds and still owes taxpayers $14.6 billion.

Next week Smith will release a progress report on the total consumer relief provided from March to December by the five companies that took part in the settlement - Ally, Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).