It’s good news for consumers that New York State Attorney
General Eric T. Schneiderman filed a civil lawsuit today against JPMorgan
alleging the firm committed widespread misconduct in sale of mortgage
securities when the housing market was booming.
Schneiderman is also a co-chairman of a joint federal and
state task force, the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group,
which was announced by President Obama during his State of the Union address in
January.
The lawsuit alleges that Bear Stearns, now a unit of
JPMorgan, and its lending unit, EMC Mortgage, defrauded investors who purchased
mortgage securities packaged by the companies from 2005 through 2007, The New
York Times said in an article.
While investors have filed lawsuits on mortgage securities
that are moving slowly through the courts, this is the first legal action
against a Wall Street bank to come from the task force.
States and the federal government need to take more action
against the banks who caused America’s financial crisis. It’s time they were held
accountable.
