Mnuchin faces more heat on OneWest foreclosures
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin is facing growing pressure from Senate Democrats to account for his leadership of a bank accused of shoddy foreclosure practices.
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the banking committee, sent a letter on Wednesday to the Treasury nominee, asking him to detail his views on issues including fair lending laws and foreclosure-prevention programs.
Brown, who asked Mnuchin to respond to 11 questions by Jan. 6, says the nominee’s record on other issues related to the committee’s purview, which includes economic sanctions and financial regulations, are also unknown.
“Working people need a Treasury Secretary who will work for them, not Wall Street,” Brown said in a statement. “The American public deserves to know where Mr. Mnuchin stands on the important housing and finance issues that he will oversee. While he made a fortune from the financial crisis, far too many Ohioans have yet to recover from it.”
While Mnuchin can count on the support of the Republican majority in the Senate for confirmation, Democrats have signaled a tough fight. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner profited from the 2007-2008 housing market crash when he and a group of investors bought a failed mortgage lender that was later renamed OneWest Bank. It was accused of unfair foreclosure practices and avoiding business in minority neighborhoods.
Mnuchin has said he’s proud of his leadership of the bank, which was bought by CIT Group Inc. in 2015. The presidential transition team’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.