That is still a fraction of the loans the banks hold, however, and there are signs the pile of bad debt is still rising.
TBN recouped only a small fraction of its loans and investments, sometimes forgiving large sums in return for broadcast rights of limited value, she said.
The video contained errors, including a failure to explain that the F.D.I.C. is sharing losses on only a small fraction of the loans bought by OneWest.
When several consulting firms were enlisted to pore over home foreclosures as part of a federal enforcement action, they collectively received about $2 billion for their work, even though the consultants reviewed only a fraction of the loans.
The concerns emerged when the consultants, under orders from regulators to see if homeowners had been wrongfully evicted, conducted an inefficient review of only a small fraction of foreclosed loans, ultimately leading regulators to cancel the review.
The most recent problems emerged when the consultants — under orders from regulators to assess whether homeowners had been wrongfully evicted — racked up more than $2 billion in fees despite reviewing only a small fraction of foreclosed loans.
The review was fraught from the start, according to the Government Accountability Office, as consultants racked up more than $2 billion in fees while reviewing only a fraction of the loans in question.
But the investment banks will make an initial payment of just 8 cents on the dollar, with further payments up to a total of 20 cents on the dollar if they find themselves able to collect an unexpectedly high fraction of the loans' value.
"For years, Democratic and Republican administrations alike touted 'record low' rates to boast of their skill in managing the federal student aid programs, when in fact these numbers reflected only a fraction of the loans that would eventually go bad," Mr. Burd wrote in an e-mail.
Banks realize that some fraction of the loans they make are going to go into default.
