NY Congressional delegation supports Scheiderman in mortgage settlement dispute

New York Congressman Jerry Nadler and other members of New York’s Congressional delegation have submitted a letter to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, cricitizing him for removing New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from mortgage settlement negotiations. Schneiderman has opposed efforts by other states and by the Obama administration to negotiate a foreclosure settlement with the banks. Miller had told Bloomberg News that Schneiderman “has actively worked to undermine the very same multi-state group that it had spent the previous nine months working very closely with” and that his behavior “simply doesn’t make sense, is unprecedented and is unacceptable.”

The members of Congress expressed concern about how New York’s interests will be protected in the ongoing negotiations, particularly since New York ranked as one of the top 10 states for known or suspected mortgage fraud activity for two consecutive years and was also one of the top 10 states for reports of mortgage fraud across all originations in 2010.

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“Undoubtedly, our state, the third largest in the nation, deserves a seat at any negotiating table that could potentially limit our state’s ability to investigate and penalize wrongdoing done within our borders,” the letter stated. “Raising legitimate concerns about elements of the proposed settlement is a responsibility of every member of the executive committee and should never be the basis for silencing a viewpoint.”

As the Gotham Gazette recently reported, the political activist group Citizen Action has also been calling on New Yorkers to support Schneiderman. [Politicker NY]  and [Gotham Gazette]