Massachusetts AG To Nix Any 50-State Deal Letting Banksters Off Hook On Securitization, MERS Issues If Foreclosure Fraud Probe Remains Incomplete

In Boston, Massachusetts, Bloomberg reports:

• Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the state won’t sign on to any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe that includes certain liability releases for banks, joining officials in at least two other states(1) who have raised concerns over terms of a possible deal.



• The banks in settlement talks with state and federal officials are seeking broad releases to protect them from legal claims. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday she won’t support an agreement that includes releases for securitization of mortgages and conduct related to a database of mortgages known as MERS.



• “Massachusetts will not sign on to any global agreement with the banks if it includes a comprehensive liability release regarding securitization and the MERS conduct,” Coakley wrote to the Norfolk County register of deeds in Dedham, Massachusetts. “These investigations must continue.” The registry keeps real estate records.

The Boston Globe adds:

• Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is beefing up her investigation into foreclosure fraud, targeting a powerful lender-created company in Virginia that claims to be the official owner of tens of millions of mortgages nationwide.



• Yesterday, Coakley said she will ask county registers to provide information to see if Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., known as MERS, is violating Massachusetts laws related to property seizures. She is concerned that MERS failed to pay government fees as well as “impaired the integrity’’ of the state recording system by failing to document loan transfers.

For the stories, see:

• Bloomberg: Massachusetts to Spurn Any Foreclosure Deal With Some Liability Releases,
• The Boston Globe: Coakley steps up probe into foreclosure fraud (Virginia-based firm is focus of new action).

(1) According to the story, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said in an interview that he had “strong reservations” about releasing claims other than for servicing of mortgages because he is investigating related issues, including securitization. Likewise, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said in a statement last week that he “remains concerned by any settlement agreement that would preclude state attorneys general from conducting comprehensive investigations of the mortgage crisis.” Schneiderman is conducting his own investigation.