Proposed 50 State Foreclosure Accord Deadline Set for Feb. 3

By David McLaughlin

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) — State attorneys general have until Feb. 3 to decide whether to sign a proposed nationwide settlement of foreclosure wrongdoing with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. that may total as much as $25 billion.

State and federal officials have been negotiating an agreement with the largest mortgage servicers that would set standards for banks conducting home foreclosures while providing some mortgage relief to borrowers. Any accord would be separate from a state-federal probe of mortgage securitization launched last week.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto wrote in a Jan. 27 letter to the Justice Department, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is helping to lead negotiations, seeking more details on the deal. Masto said she needs answers to evaluate the agreement because the “sign-on deadline” of Feb. 3.

“I need this information as soon as possible to allow my office to continue to evaluate the proposal on behalf of the state of Nevada,” she wrote. Jennifer Lopez, a spokeswoman for Masto, confirmed the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News, and declined further comment.

State officials discussed the settlement last week as part of a Chicago meeting with federal officials after being sent information on its terms. Miller declined to comment at the time about whether there is a deadline for states to decide whether to accept it. Geoff Greenwood, his spokesman, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

At least one state attorney general — Delaware’s Beau Biden — has said he won’t sign on the deal as currently drafted. California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s office last week called it “inadequate for California.”

Source Businessweek

Carlos Marroquin, no2housingcrime.org

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