The lawsuit was filed Monday in Suffolk Superior Court.
Coakley said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac violated a 2012 Massachusetts law that allows the sale of homes in foreclosure to nonprofit organizations who intend to restructure the loan and sell the property back to the homeowner.
Coakley said the law has worked in Massachusetts.
‘‘It just makes sense to take action that will continue to keep people in their homes,’’ Coakley said. ‘‘It makes commercial sense. It makes financial sense and it’s frankly the law and not to do it is really unfair.’’
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under the control of the federal housing agency. A spokeswoman for the FHFA declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The 2012 state law explicitly forbids banks and lenders from refusing to consider offers from legitimate buyback programs merely because the property will be resold to the former homeowner.
Critics of the Massachusetts law have argued that allowing homes to be sold back to homeowners who were unable to maintain their original mortgage would create a ‘‘moral hazard’’ by essentially allowing the homeowner to benefit from a bad contract.
But Coakley said the argument is outdated given the state is still trying to dig out of the foreclosure crisis.
