LOS ANGELES - The attorneys general of Nevada and California announced Tuesday they will join forces to hold the nation's banks and mortgage servicers accountable.
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and California Attorney General Kamala Harris are among a handful of prosecutors nationwide who are investigating crimes related to the housing crisis.
White collar cases often require resources and expertise not traditionally available in their offices. To meet the need, at least in Nevada, prosecutors and investigators have learned case by case Now, they can share that knowledge with their counterparts in California.
"Our mortgage investigation alliance is a truth seeking effort," Cortez Masto said.
The joint investigation agreement between the two states is expected to augment and accelerate Nevada's mortgage fraud investigations. The two offices are already sharing intelligence, witnesses and litigation strategies as they investigate a wide-range of possible criminal activity.
Targets for both states include everything from low-level scammers and predators to some of the nation's biggest banks and loan servicers.
"It's a big win for the State of Nevada and for California as well," Cortez Masto said. "From my perspective, we've been at this since 2007. We have a lot of information about various types of scams that we are seeing, and we'll be sharing those with California."
Cortez Masto points to a recent robo-signing indictment as an example of the cross-over in crime between the two states. The suspects - two Orange County, California residents - are alleged to have defrauded Nevada residents from California.
Harris has been an outspoken critic of a multi-state settlement being negotiated with the nation's five biggest banks, though Cortez Masto denies Tuesday's announcement was meant in any way as a commentary on that effort.
Certainly, there are those who will see it as a sign neither state plans to let the banks off the hook.
