State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman visited Washington, D.C. to launch the mortgage crisis unit announced by President Obama during his State of the Union address. Schneiderman will be working with others to investigate whether any banks or mortgage lenders broke the law leading up the recession. Our Erin Billups has more.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With a team of 80 attorneys, analysts and investigators already established, 30 more on the way and several other state attorney generals, the Justice Department hopes its new Residential Mortgage Task Force will shake things up on Wall Street.

"We are bound and determined and will hold people accountable in this sector," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said.

And New York's Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, one of five co-chairs, will be at the helm.

"Collectively, we have jurisdiction to go after every aspect of the artificial inflation of the housing bubble and the mortgage-backed securities bubble and the crash that brought down the economy," Schneiderman said.
But with it being more than three years after the housing bubble burst, many wonder why now? Critics suggesting much more could have been done in the aftermath of the mortgage crisis.

"It is not as if we have not been doing anything. We've been doing a great deal, but I'm confident that with this new structure that we're putting in place today that our efforts will be enhanced," Holder said.

They plan to hit the ground running, immediately following the official announcement the full working group met for the first time behind closed doors.

"I'm very excited about the prospect of going forward. I think these are the agencies we need to give us the jurisdiction and the resources to really dig in," said Schneiderman.

And when it comes to any reservations with the administration's pending settlement with the some of the nation's largest lenders, Schneiderman insists he's no longer concerned the deal will shield banks from future investigations.

“The president, the justice department the SEC and I clearly would not be undertaking this investigation if we though the releases provided in the servicing settlement would impede the investigations,” Schneiderman said. “So I'm confident the releases have been narrowed, are being narrowed and the investigation is going to go forth aggressively."

The working group hopes at some point to be able to compensate victims and homeowners affected by the housing market crash.