Obama on the verge of a deal with the banks

Maybe we're looking at the glass half empty?

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On Wednesday, President Barack Obama tapped Schneiderman to co-chair a joint federal-state task force to pursue criminal charges related to abusive mortgages and the bundling of those loans into investments. Some observers suggested the appointment was intended to blunt Schneiderman’s opposition to the multistate settlement. Schneiderman has said he's not about to let bankers off the hook.

"My concern ... has always been to make sure that we're not releasing claims that obviously now are even more important to me because I'm investigating them," he told reporters Wednesday.

From the beginning of the settlement talks, the five big banks have been holding out for a blanket waiver of legal liability to protect them from future lawsuits or prosecution. The creation of Schneiderman’s task force makes that blanket waiver extremely unlikely. It may even collapse the deal, JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, told CNBC.

“My own read is (the creation of the new task force) has a pretty good chance of derailing it,” said Dimon.

The proposed settlement was also dealt a major blow Wednesday when California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said its terms would limit her ability to bring civil charges against mortgage lenders that wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners.

"We've reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California," said Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris

As ground zero for the mortgage meltdown, California is critical to the approval of any settlement. Roughly one in four of all foreclosures are happening in the state and ten of the top 20 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in 2011 are there according to RealtyTrac.

From the early stages of the talks, Schneiderman and a handful of other state AGs have resisted any deal that would let banks off the hook for a variety of claims by homeowners and investors who bought bonds backed by home mortgages. In August, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the state group, booted Schneiderman from the executive committee of federal and state officials because he steadfastly opposed any deals that would end investigations into mortgage fraud.

Schneiderman holds several powerful legal cards that the other 49 AGs don’t. New York’s anti-fraud Martin Act gives him broad subpoena powers other state prosecutors lack. Some New York state securities laws apply to Wall Street firms based in the state. Many of the pools of mortgages that were chopped up into bonds are held in trusts registered in New York.

Maybe he actually means business and will hold the banks responsible. As of right now, Bank of America is being investigated as to how they handled my mortgage, so I don't believe this is out of the scope of things. I think many more mortgages will be scrutinized. It's just a long process and the wheels of justice do turn slowly.

DEAL? I have a deal for them, it's called "KMMFA", a bunch of liars, tyrants and idiots. We'd be better off with a team of super top secret monkies running this country. Bad cess to politicians

So if Obama could do half of what he said he wanted to do in his S.U.A. he'd make me happy. Sadly I think that his chances are slim with the Republican Party blocking the way. i'm curious what happens if a Republican takes office this next term and than the Republicans lose the majority of house seats?

The result will be a repeat of the past 12 years...

Any body old enough to remember the savings and loan scandal, history is just replaying itself, just on a grander scale. We bailed them out and now the Prez is going to cut a deal with them so they don't go to jail. Plus he appointed NY AG Eric Schneiderman to co-chair his investigation of who's responsible for the mortgage crisis. Preempting any more good work for the people of New York. That's downright despicable.

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reply to post by alonzo730


We'll see what kind of man he is. I hope he does what he says he's going to do. The people must stand up and fight though. I did and my bank is being investigated on how they handled my mortgage. The squeaky wheel may get the grease sometimes, but people need to make their voices heard and make damn sure he does his job as he's supposed to and work FOR THE PEOPLE and not the banks.