Massachusetts sues 5 major Banks

Attorney General says banks need to be accountable


Updated: Friday, 02 Dec 2011, 5:27 PM EST

Published : Friday, 02 Dec 2011, 5:27 PM EST
Christine Lee, 22News State House Correspondent

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Massachusetts has filed the first in the nation lawsuit against 5 major banks in connection with illegal foreclosures and deceptive lending.
Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Thursday her office is suing Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citi and GMAC for allegedly pursuing illegal foreclosures and deceptive loan practices on properties across the state.
“Whether those institutions believe they are too big to fail, they certainly have demonstrated that they believe they are too big to care about the impact of their actions and we believe they are not to big to have to obey the law,” said Coakley.
Coakley said the suit is in response to frustrated homeowners who are drowning in underwater mortgages or being unnecessarily kicked out of their homes.
Throughout the year, angry homeowners and advocates have been staging demonstrations against big banks. “There are too many foreclosures in the City of Springfield and too many homeless people put out of their home by Bank of America through their predatory capitalism of making money over hard working people,” said Danica Ali of Springfield No One Leaves, while attending a summer demonstration in Boston that attracted over 2,000 people.
The banks named in the suit have released statements. Bank of America spokesperson Lawrence Grayson said, “We continue to believe that collaborative resolution rather than continued litigation will most quickly heal the housing market and help drive economic recovery.”
But Coakley said she and other Attorneys General across the country have been talking to banks for over a year without seeing any real relief.
“We will accept only one result, obtaining accountability from these banks and getting real relief for homeowners here in Massachusetts,” said Coakley.
Another defendant named in the lawsuit is MERS, which stands for the Mortgage Electronic Registration System. Coakley said the banks’ misuse of MERS quickened property transfers and corrupted the state’s public land records.