BostonGlobe reports three potential candidates have been identified as possible monitors to make sure banks comply with any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe. In the wake of disclosures that mortgage companies were using faulty documents to seize homes during the foreclosure process, all 50 states began investigations. The monitor would oversee mortgage relief provided to homeowners and set standards for foreclosures. Candidates include Steven M. Cohen, former secretary to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and currently a partner at a law firm in New York City; Nicolas P. Retsinas, former assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), senior lecturer in real estate at Harvard Business School, and director emeritus of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies; and Joseph A. Smith, Jr., North Carolina’s commissioner of banks. In 2010, Smith was chosen by President Obama to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but his nomination was rejected by Senate Republicans.
