The deadline for states to decide whether to join a proposed nationwide foreclosure settlement with banks was delayed to Feb. 6 from Feb. 3, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office said.

States were given more time to evaluate the proposal, which may total $25 billion, after at least one asked for a delay, Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, said yesterday in a phone interview. Miller is helping to lead negotiations.

State and federal officials have been negotiating an agreement with mortgage servicers that would provide mortgage relief to homeowners and set requirements for how banks conduct foreclosures.

State officials are reviewing the agreement with Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc., and are being asked to sign on. Greenwood declined to name the state that asked for more time or comment on state support for the deal.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said in a Jan. 27 letter to Miller, the Justice Department and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan that she needed answers to 38 questions to evaluate the deal.

The deadline was changed as Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said today in a statement that he would sign on to the settlement, joining Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who also supports it.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden has said he won’t sign on to the settlement.

–Editors: Michael Hytha, Glenn Holdcraft

To contact the reporter on this story: David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net

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