New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday sued three major U.S. banks, accusing them of fraud for using an electronic mortgage database that resulted in deceptive and illegal practices.

Schneiderman filed the lawsuit against Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.  in New York state court in Brooklyn.

The lawsuit is over the banks’ use of MERS, the Mortgage Electronic Registration System the industry created in the mid-1990s to track the ownership and servicing of residential mortgage loans.

Schneiderman claims the system is plagued by inaccuracies. The lawsuit also names MERS and its parent as defendants.

In December, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley sued MERS as part of a multipronged suit against five major U.S. lenders for their role in the state foreclosure crisis. (Reuters)