State and federal officials are negotiating a settlement with the five largest mortgage servicers, including Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C., and JPMorgan Chase in New York, over their servicing and foreclosure practices.
A person familiar with the matter said last month that banks want liability releases that cover other areas of their mortgage operations besides servicing, including the bundling of loans into securities.
Dan Frahm, a spokesman for Bank of America, said the bank shares Masto’s goal of helping homeowners.
“Bank of America has been a cooperative partner with the attorney general, and has worked with state leaders to evolve programs and resources to broaden assistance to distressed customers,’’ he said in a statement.
Tom Kelly, a JPMorgan spokesman, declined to comment.
Masto joined New York, Delaware, and Massachusetts in resisting broad releases for the banks in any settlement. Those states are conducting their own investigations into mortgage practices of banks.
Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts said in a letter last month that she will not sign on to an agreement if it includes “a comprehensive liability release’’ for mortgage securitization or conduct related to a mortgage database called MERS.
State attorneys general and federal agencies, including the Justice Department, have not reached an agreement with the banks about the releases, said Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for Attorney General Tom Miller of Iowa, who is leading negotiations for the states in the nationwide probe. Greenwood declined to comment about how individual state investigations may be affected.
“We’re working with state attorney generals, our federal partners, and the banks on resolving the liability issue,’’ he said.
Masto said her office is conducting inquiries into various areas of mortgage fraud. She declined to provide details or say which companies are under investigation. The office has a civil investigation into mortgage securitization, she said.
