Citigroup Inc.’s mortgage subsidiary has agreed to settle a government lawsuit for more than $ 150 million. The unit is accused of falsely certifying federally insured mortgages, not reporting mortgage fraud and pressuring quality control employees to ignore loan defects.

The settlement will cost Citi $ 158 million in damages and civil penalties.

"CitiMortgage failed to perform basic due diligence, failed to verify information in the loan file that bore directly on the borrower’s ability to make payments on the mortgage, and repeatedly endorsed mortgage loans that contained serious defects and departures from HUD’s underwriting standards and thus were not eligible for FHA insurance," a government statement said.