It was the first of a possible 732 individual payouts from the agreement Pruitt negotiated with Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and GMAC separate from the settlement the 49 other states and federal government struck with the lenders.

Pruitt said in some cases payments in Oklahoma could be more than 20 times the money received under the national settlement.

In addition to direct payments, the attorney general's office is using part of the state's settlement to work with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Bar Association and Oklahoma Lawyers for America's Heroes Program to help troubled homeowners stay in their homes.

The Zunigas, who have three children, were among the first 100 recipients of funds from the Oklahoma settlement, ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. For the others, the checks, at an average of $11,000, are in the mail.

Pruitt said at a news conference that the latest estimates indicate individuals in other states could receive as little as $840 from the national settlement. The Attorney General's Public Protection Unit continues work on the other 600-plus cases.

“I can definitely say this, for a family of five with one on the way, that it will absolutely change our lives,” said Zachary Zuniga, a manager for Tulsa-based Reasor's Foods.

The Zunigas lost their home after a year-and-a-half ordeal with Citigroup, he said — letting slip the lender although having been asked not to name it.

After two stabs at a mortgage modification — and just as he thought a third attempt was getting under way — came a sheriff's sale of the Zuniga home, valued about $105,000, in June 2011.

“With our backs against the wall, we finally found a rental home in the same neighborhood where we lived. I've lived in this house since 1988, with my parents. I grew up in this house. I started my family in this house. We had our children in this house,” Zuniga said, a look of pain on his face.

“We stayed in the same neighborhood so the kids could stay in their schools and keep their friends, 'cause after losing their home, they didn't need (to lose) anything else.”

Now, he said, “with a minimal amount of debt that we'll be able to pay off, we'll be able to have money in the bank and we'll be able to take care of things that seemed so far away a year ago.”