By Howard Greninger
TERRE HAUTE — Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller administered the oath of office to a Terre Haute native Monday in Vigo County Superior Court Division 3, making Laura Turner the state’s 144th deputy attorney general.
“One of my highest priorities is to develop a sense of service to others as kind of a hallmark of attorneys in the office of attorney general,” Zoeller said. “This is a very unique position that will call for some very unique talents. I think I have a very good attorney in Laura Turner.”
Zoeller said Turner will take over a newly created, full-time position that followed a multistate settlement on home loans from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. The $150 million settlement covers borrowers in 40 states, many of whom had loans foreclosed. The settlement was negotiated as a result of questionable lending practices, including predatory lending.
Under the settlement, more than $2.8 million in restitution payments will be paid to 1,901 Hoosiers whose homes were foreclosed on by Countrywide. The payments are worth nearly $1,500 each. The settlement also provides homeowners the ability to renegotiate a loan issued through Countrywide, which was bought in July by Bank of America.
An estimated 5,000 mortgage holders could be eligible to save up to $55 million in lowered interest rates and revised loans, Zoeller said.
Judge J. Blaine Akers, Clay County Superior Court, said Turner worked as a college intern for him in the county court and was his student when he taught a legal writing class as an adjunct professor at Indiana State University.
“She was still in college, but I wanted to expose her to the court system and criminal law, anything that would interest her in the future,” said Akers, who attended the oath of office. “I helped talk her into going to law school.”
Turner, whose maiden name is Taylor, is a 2000 graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo High School. She graduated magna cum laude from ISU in 2005, majoring in criminology. Turner worked for the past three years as a law clerk in the Homeowner Protection Unit in the attorney general’s office.
With Turner’s appointment, Zoeller said, the Homeowner Protection Unit now has four attorneys.
Turner said she earned her law degree in December and passed the Indiana bar in February. She will now work on cases related to foreclosure prevention.
“I will handle consumer complaints that come in for Bank of America, and we basically act as a mediator between the consumer and the mortgage company to try to negotiate any type of loan assistance that can be provided to the consumer,” she said.
Just before administering the oath of office, Zoeller told Akers, “The best attribute of an attorney general is knowing how to pick good lawyers.”
After taking the oath of office, Turner said, “It really is an honor to serve in the attorney general’s office.”
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
