The U.S. Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development and state attorneys general today announced the agreement, which was more than 16 months in the making following a move by states to investigate bank foreclosure practices in 2010.

“We need to keep doing everything we can to help homeowners and our economy,” President Barack Obama said at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, where he was joined by administration officials and attorneys general from some of the states. The “landmark” agreement will “begin to turn the page on an era of recklessness” that led to the housing bubble, he said.