Masto
CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) - Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto is the latest attorney general to voice concerns over a possible settlement with the country's top mortgage servicers.
Masto told Bloomberg News on Monday that she was going to be "cautious" about whether to sign a settlement, especially if it could impact her state's own litigation.
According to Bloomberg, Masto is conducting her own foreclosure investigations.
But the attorney general isn't the first to hesitate signing a deal that could protect banks from continuing mortgage investigations.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley all have expressed the same concern.
Last month it was reported that the lenders -- Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. -- want protection from additional claims over their mortgage practices.
The attorneys general argue that servicing is at the center of the proposed $20 billion settlement deal with the banks.
State attorneys general, the U.S. Justice Department, Treasury Department and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are in the midst of negotiating a settlement with the five mortgage servicers.
The mortgage foreclosure probe began in October with inquiries into so-called "robosigning" practices by several mortgage companies, and has since broadened into identifying and addressing additional alleged improper foreclosure practices.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.