Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller late Tuesday removed New York AG Eric Schneiderman from the executive committee of a coalition seeking a civil settlement with the nation's megaservicers, saying he had “actively” undermined the group's efforts over the past few months.
Miller, who heads the 50-state AG group negotiating with servicers over the robosigning scandal, said in a statement that Schneiderman has been “intimately involved in every aspect of this investigation and possible settlement” since last October.
According to combined reports, the New York AG feels the negotiating panel is going too easy on the servicers regarding their release from future legal claims tied to their shoddy residential servicing practices.
In his statement Miller adds that New York “has actively worked to undermine the very same multistate group that it had spent the previous nine months working very closely with.”
In a statement a spokesman for Schneiderman said the AG is “committed to a comprehensive resolution” to all mortgage abuses, adding that “ongoing investigations by attorneys general cannot be shut down by efforts to settle quickly.”
The AG coalition is seeking roughly $25 billion in financial commitments from servicers, but it's unclear how that money will be spent. Some firms might pay outright damages to homeowners while other funds might be geared toward loan modifications and restructurings.
