California's mortgage settlement funds should help homeowners, not reduce deficit
Statement of CRL-California Director Paul Leonard on Gov. Jerry Brown's May ReviseCalifornia's dire budget situation claimed a new casualty in the governor's May Revise yesterday: $410 million in bank penalty funds from the National Mortgage Settlement intended to assist California homeowners. The governor instead proposed to use the funds to reduce the state's deficit rather than to help borrowers access settlement programs. Attorney General Kamala Harris worked for well over a year to reach an acceptable settlement with banks who had harmed California homeowners with robo-signing and