New York state sued HSBC Holdings Plc for ignoring a law designed to protect struggling homeowners from being thrown into foreclosure without getting a chance to renegotiate their mortgages. The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accuses Europe's largest bank of letting foreclosure cases languish by ignoring a state law intended to give homeowners a chance to negotiate loan modifications. Schneiderman said such delays have trapped as many as 25,000 homeowners in a "shadow docket" of foreclosure cases backlogged as long as 2-1/2 years, causing them to rack up thousands of dollars of needless interest, fees and penalties. "Mick Jagger was wrong. If you're a homeowner, time is not on your side," Schneiderman said at a news conference, referencing the 1964 Rolling Stones hit "Time is On My Side." Neal McGarity, an HSBC spokesman, declined to comment. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a New York state court in Buffalo and made public on Tuesday. It accuses
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