Elms Progressive Media

January 9, 2012 | LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Join our mailing list: Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Massachusetts sued five major banks Thursday over deceptive foreclosure practices such as the "robo-signing" of documents, potentially undermining negotiations between lenders and state prosecutors across the nation over the same issue. The lawsuit named Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and GMAC. It was filed in Massachusetts by Attorney General Martha Coakley. "We have two clear goals with this lawsuit -- one is to provide for real accountability for the role the banks have played in unlawful and illegal foreclosures, and secondly to provide for real and enforceable relief for the harm that the misconduct has caused," Coakley said in a news conference to announce the lawsuit. The lawsuit also named Mortgage Electronic Registration System and its parent company as defendants. The company, a mortgage registry database, has been accused of shoddy record-keeping in large numbers of foreclosure proceedings. Massachus