As housing prices continue to slide, foreclosures across the country show no sign of letting up. However, some are starting to fight back against big banks. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Lynn and Bill Jerbis join The Dylan Ratigan Show to discuss.

MSNBC TRANSCRIPT:

>>> well, just down the road from where i sit today is, of course, las vegas. ground zero for the housing crisis in this country. and across america, housing prices continue to slide and foreclosures show no sign of letting up. as that giant bubble that was inflated over the last ten years with the funny money that was printed using your pension fund continues to dissipate, even as they print money to support the banks, the banks continue to pay bonuses, but the american homeowner continues to suffer and suffer tremendously. no signs of action federal government on this issue and questions still remain as to what state attorney generals can do. reports this week that regulators are proposing a $30 billion fine against the big banks over their handling over the foreclosures, but no sign of actual modifications or reconciliation with principle write-downs that may be the only way to get out of this mess. if we let the banks off the hook with accounting modifications and bailouts, why is it that we’re leaving the american homeowner stuck paying the bill for people who didn’t have the money to lend them in the first place. it was our own money. meanwhile, the internet group usuncut.org is planning a national protest tomorrow against bank of america. joining us now is nevada state attorney general, catherine cortez masto, who is suing bank of america over loan modifications. and with me right here at the hoover dam, we’re joined by a couple ? who have been through foreclosure, they are staying in their home right now with their four dogs until the bank kicks them out. and give us a little bit of a sense, lynn, what you’ve been through up to this point?

>> it’s constant. every time they tell us that they need paperwork from us for our income and whatever it is that they need, a month later they turn around and say, now you need to update it. it’s been going like this for a year and a half.

>> i understand, bill, you’re dealing with a german bank?

>> deutsche bank. i think they’re based in new york.

>> attorney general masto, what can be done to administrate justice at this point, when the injustice is so clear to the american people, and it’s clear that the administrators at deutsche bank or anyplace else could really care less about what happens to these people sitting with me today.

>> dylan, thank you for discussing this important topic. let me say, just what you heard from lynn and bill, that’s what we’re addressing. that is why we are suing bank of america in nevada. for their deceptive trade practices when it comes to their servicing. they make these promises that they’re going to help people modify their loan, reduce their principles, help them stay in their home, and they do just the opposite. and they haven’t put infrastructure in place to even help these people. and when the individuals like lynn and bill call on the phone for some of these centers, like bank of america, for assistance, they put them on hold, they lose their paperwork, they make them call in numerous times. they promise them that they will put them in sort of trial payment, modification payment. at the same time, what lynn and bill don’t realize, and a lot of people don’t realize, is that the other side of bank of america, they’re actually moving forward to foreclosure on their home out from underneath them, when these individuals have no idea this is occurring. that’s why nevada is suing bank of america.

>> how much power have you guys felt like you have had or have right now to even address this?

>> absolutely none. every time they talk to ?us, they tell us one thing and do another. they lie to us all the time. we don’t know what’s going to happen. we don’t know where we’re living tomorrow. we have four dogs, four boxers, and we don’t know where we’re going to go with them. and it’s just a shame. it’s a tragedy of what’s happening. there’s four houses on our block that are empty right now, on my block, just on two sides of my street that are empty. and i don’t know how many others in my neighborhood are in foreclosure. i’m sure there are many more we don’t even know about.

>> bill, is there anything you want to share with the attorney general?

>> oh, better stimulus.

>> but if you were to look at your ability, attorney general masto, to actually administer justice, how much power do you feel like you have in dealing with the banking system in this country?

>> sure, dylan. i can tell you, from my perspective, we are using all of the state laws that are within our authority to take action against all of these banks. but i will tell you that as you know, they are federally regulated, federally charted, so they always make the argument that there is a federal preemption. and we as states can not necessarily take action. particularly in the actions that we move forward, when the litigation we move forward in, we are taking action against them — using our state statutes, our unfair and deceptive trade practices act, and filing against them in state court. that is what we are going to continue to do. but let me just say this. what i have also found frustrating is that there have been promises of money coming into the state to help people, like lynn and bill, reduce their principle, stay in their home. but they can’t get access to the money, because the criteria has been so strict, particularly here in nevada, that these individuals don’t even qualify for a lot of the money that has actually come into our state to help them. that has been my biggest frustration. because on the one hand, we have the federal government giving money to our state, particularly because we’re one of the hardest hit states, so we received about $194 million out of the hardest hit states fund from the federal government. one of the programs we are u( for that is a principle reduction program, which has $64 million in it. but guess what? i cannot get the main servicers actually and the main holders of those notes to even participate in that principal reduction program. let me give you an example, fannie and freddie, they own 60% of the mortgages in nevada, they refuse to participate in that principal reduction program. and who owns or who’s the largest investor in freddie and fannie mae? the federal government. so it is so frustrating to hear on the one end, there’s all this money to help these individuals, and we cannot get the money into the hands of the homeowners like bill and lynn. and that’s why i’m frustrated, and that’s why i can see their frustration.

>> yeah. and i just hope that all three of you continue, obviously, to share your story with us. it’s a cause that is very near to what we do journalistically, with this program. we are incredibly ware of the injustice and the unfairness that exists between the american homeowner and the banking system. and the frustrations that people like yourself, attorney general, deal with as you just described. so the more we can draw attention to those things, you will rest assured, we will do so. thank you so much for joining us lynn, bill. attorney general masto, thank you so much.

>>> coming up on “hardball,” chris matthews talking to montana governor brian schweitzer about the unions, but parting thoughts from our steel on wheels tour as we wrap up our third outing from the hoover dam right after this. [ male