by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 06:31:00 PM

From the LA Times: California breaks from 50-state probe into mortgage lenders

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris will no longer take part in a national foreclosure probe of some of the nation's biggest banks, which are accused of pervasive misconduct in dealing with troubled homeowners.

Harris removed herself from talks by a coalition of state attorneys general and federal agencies investigating abusive foreclosure practices because the nation's five largest mortgage servicers were not offering California homeowners relief commensurate to what people in the state had suffered, Harris told the Times on Friday.

The big banks were also demanding to be granted overly broad immunity from legal claims that could potentially derail further investigations into Wall Street's role in the mortgage meltdown, Harris said.

“It has been a process of negotiating and sitting at a table in good faith but ultimately I have decided that we have to go our own course and take an independent path and that decision is because we need to bring relief to Californians that is equal to the pain California experienced and what is being negotiated now is insufficient," Harris [said]

This is a major blow to the settlement talks.