Topeka ? The state banking commissioner and the nation’s largest mobile-home lender have reached a settlement under which more than 100 Kansans will see their interest payments reduced by thousands of dollars.

As part of the settlement, which was reached Tuesday after a yearlong investigation, the state found that Conseco Finance Servicing Corp. overcharged 120 homeowners in interest on mortgages for their mobile homes.

St. Paul, Minn.-based Conseco neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing.

By law, the legal maximum rate in Kansas for such loans is 15 percent. Homeowners were being charged as much as 18 percent on their mortgages from Conseco, said Kevin Glendening, deputy banking commissioner and administrator of the Kansas Uniform Consumer Credit Code.

The homeowners will have the option of receiving a refund check or having the principal reduced on their loans after they are recalculated to 10 percent from their inception.

“The potential savings here is huge,” Glendening said. “It could be in the millions of dollars.”

Conseco also has agreed to pay a $75,000 fee to help educate consumers, according to a copy of the settlement agreement.

During his investigation, Glendening said, more than 40 consumers alleged Conseco harassed them in collecting debts; used rude, abusive or profane language; made late-night calls; called employers; and made threats of forcible eviction.

“We’ve addressed this fully with the regulator,” said Brian Corey, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Conseco Finance Corp. in St. Paul.

Corey said the 120 accounts were about 1 percent of Conseco’s manufactured home financing accounts in Kansas.

Corey said an internal audit last summer showed that 83 borrowers were being charged more than 15 percent because forms were filled out incorrectly. After the audit, he said, the company lowered the interest rates to 15 percent or lower.

Glendening, however, said Conseco misrepresented the reason it was lowering the interest rate. The company wrote a letter to borrowers saying they qualified for an “Interest Rate Reduction Program.”

Also as part of the agreement, Conseco has agreed to forgive the deficiency balance on several borrowers who were foreclosed upon, Glendening said.