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Did Steven Mnuchin oversee tens of thousands of foreclosures before becoming Secretary of the Treasury?

Thursday, October 15, 2020
By Jacob Alabab-Moser
YES

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was chief executive of a Southern California bank from 2009 to 2015, and oversaw tens of thousands of foreclosures during his tenure.

A 2011 investigation by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision found OneWest's foreclosures weren't properly administered, identifying fraudulent practices like backdated documents.

A 2013 memo by the consumer-law division of the California Attorney General's office states that between March 2009 and January 2013, OneWest "foreclosed on approximately 35,000 California homes and initiated foreclosures on approximately 45,000 more." The authors found "evidence of wrongdoing suggestive of widespread misconduct." The memo recommended that then-Attorney General Kamala Harris authorize a civil enforcement action against the bank. Harris's office declined to pursue the case.

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