Dozens of States Plan Foreclosure Probe

A coalition of up to 40 state attorney-generals is preparing to launch a joint probe into allegations that mortgage-servicing firms used fraudulent paperwork to kick people out of their homes. Bank of America has already suspended evictions in all 50 states while it looks into "robo-signed" foreclosure documents, and the probe is likely to spur other lenders to follow suit.

Some attorneys general say they hope the probe will put pressure on lenders to rewrite large numbers of troubled loans. "I think the mortgage-servicing firms need to understand that they face real exposure now, and they would be well advised to take this very seriously, to clean this up by doing loan workouts to keep people in their homes, which up till now they've just paid lip-service to," Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray told the Wall Street Journal.
(More foreclosures stories.)