San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre said on Wednesday he had filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and its Countrywide unit to prevent the mortgage lenders from foreclosing on homes in his city, which he aims to make a "foreclosure sanctuary."
Aguirre said he plans to file similar lawsuits against Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) and Wachovia Corp (WB.N) in an effort to make the lenders negotiate with mortgage borrowers facing foreclosure.
"We would like to see San Diego become a foreclosure sanctuary," Aguirre said.
"We haven't seen the lawsuit and can't comment," said Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton.
(Reporting by Marty Graham in San Diego; Writing by Jim Christie; editing by Mark Porter and Carol Bishopric)