Mr. Schneiderman,
I applaud your efforts to get to the bottom of the foreclosure mess in New York State and would ask you to keep your investigations separate from the proposed multi-state or Federal deal being pushed by the Administration in Washington. Maintain your independence.
There are several reasons that I urge you to do so. There has been scant investigation by the collective group of Attorneys General, in stark contrast to yourself. And many argue that the Federal Government, the US Attorney General’s office and the multi-state process has muddied the waters and perhaps engaged in cover-ups rather than trying to get to the bottom of the mortgage mess.
A major argument made in favor of the multistage deal, that it will help borrowers, is most likely to be false. As you know, Countrywide entered into a deal with attorney generals just like this, where they agreed to do mods in return for a settlement on abuses. They didn’t do the mods. To add insult to injury, they have been accused in court cases of abusing homeowners who should have gotten mods. As a result the Nevada AG is suing Countrywide now over its failure to comply with the terms of its settlement.
I urge you to stay out of the multi state deal and keep your powder dry to get to the bottom of the current mess in New York state and to get the fraudulent actors in the banking system out of circulation with agreements and decisions that will disincentivize future playing with the property rights of normal citizens.
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