During a recent call between states officials and the banks, some lenders said they opposed any settlement term that would reduce loan balances, according to one of the people familiar with the talks.
More than 1, 000 consultants were combing through the loan documentation to see how much wrongdoing actually occurred, a process now stopped by this settlement.
The other settlement, with all ten banks participating, resolved claims of foreclosure abuses that included flawed paperwork and bungled loan modifications.