A threat by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to sue Bank of America for alleged violations of the National Mortgage Settlement has brought a sharp retort from the bank’s attorneys at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, who say they knew of no potential problems until Schneiderman fired off a letter to the monitoring panel and issued a statement to the press. Schneiderman on May 6 sent a letter to the Monitoring Committee of the National Mortgage Settlement alleging that Bank of America and Wells Fargo repeatedly violated the 2012 agreement. He said his office documented 339 instances where the banks failed to follow an agreed-upon timeline on implementing new mortgage servicing rules to protect homeowners against foreclosures. He attributed 129 of the instances to BofA and announced his intention to sue both banks.
In response, the banks’ attorneys sent a letter to Schneiderman the following day saying they were "surprised and disappointed to learn for the first time through your May 6 letter and attendant press coverage" of any issues with the settlement agreement. "We are surprised because Bank of America has been in regular and close contact with your Office on this and related subjects under the National Mortgage Settlement," said Meyer Koplow and Theodore Mirvis of Wachtell. "We are disappointed because, as you are aware, Bank of America has provided significant consumer relief to New York homeowners under the National Mortgage Settlement and is fully committed to compliance with what was agreed to in that Settlement." The attorneys said Schneiderman’s allegation of "flagrant violations" is "entirely baseless."
