Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan won the race by a nose Wednesday, suing mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. for fraud hours before her California counterpart did the same.
More states are likely to jump on the bandwagon as public officials attempt to assign blame and make hay from the mortgage industry implosion that has led to record foreclosures and rocked the U.S. economy.
"I don't wish to defend Countrywide, but there's a lot of piling on," said Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Virginia. "We have 50 aspiring attorneys general who are running to be governor."
The civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court alleges that Countrywide violated the state's consumer protection statutes by making unaffordable loans and failing to make adequate disclosures to borrowers.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Taking aim at Countrywide
The Chicago Tribune reports:
