Carrington calls Ohio mortgage lawsuit "meritless"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, a top servicer of risky U.S. home loans, on Friday said an Ohio lawsuit claiming it failed to make reasonable efforts to stop foreclosures is "meritless."

Ohio State Attorney General Richard Cordray and the state commerce department sued Carrington for breaching an agreement to engage in "good faith" loan workouts to stop foreclosures. Carrington did not provide ways to stop losses, and pressed homeowners into signing unfair documents, the lawsuit said.

"We regret that the Ohio Attorney General has declined our offer to continue to work constructively to help homeowners and has instead chosen to pursue meritless litigation against the company," Santa Ana, California-based Carrington said in an e-mailed statement.

"Carrington remains single-mindedly committed to helping homeowners throughout this difficult economic cycle and has modified loans for approximately half of its customers, the vast majority of which are now back on track and remain in their homes," it added.

(Reporting by Al Yoon, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)