Eric Schneiderman to head new mortgage agency

Here’s what the LA Times has to say about Mr. Schneiderman:

Schneiderman has been one of the most aggresssive state attorneys general in investigating the actions of financial firms and others leading up to the housing bust. Along with California Atty. Gen.Kamala D. Harris, Schneiderman and several other attorneys general have balked at the ongoing talks between state officials and large mortgage servicers to settle investigations into foreclosure process abuses.

And here’s what the man himself said:

“We’re undertaking a more coordinated effort to pull together all of the various strands of investigations relating to the conduct that created the mortgage-backed securities bubble and led to the market crash,” Schneiderman told reporters in Washington after an event at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“There have been investigations going on in various states and branches of the federal government,” he said. “We’re now making a concerted effort to pull everything together and move forward aggressively to address these issues.”

He said the task force would go after “every aspect of the conduct that created the bubble and crash,” including the origination of mortgages and the packaging of them into securities.

We’ll have to wait and see.