Government Lawsuit Says Bank Of America Mortgage Fraud Even WORSE Than Countrywide

This story (from Sep. 2011) has never been published here.  I've been saving it for the right time, and news earlier this week that BofA CEO Brian Moynihan has been named as a defendant in a federal foreclosure lawsuit, makes now a pretty good time for a BofA pile-on.

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Marketwatch

By Al Lewis

Federal lawsuit says even Angelo Mozilo was shocked...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Bank of America Corp.’s story has long been that Countrywide did it. But a lawsuit filed last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency tells a different tale.

The lawsuit claims that when former Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo marveled at the dizzying recklessness of the mortgage-lending business, he was in fact looking at Charlotte-based Bank of America.

This is perhaps one of the most insulting claims ever leveled in a mortgage-fraud lawsuit.  Bank of America would probably feel outraged if it weren’t so overwhelmed with its nauseating plunge on the stock market.  Mozilo has easily eclipsed Enron’s brass as one of the most-hated executives of all time. He has become the poster child for the fraudulent mortgage-lending practices that torpedoed the U.S. banking system and the entire global economy.

But he was smart enough to sell Countrywide as it nearly collapsed in January 2008. And Bank of America was dumb enough to buy it for $4.1 billion.

Since then, Bank of America has been blaming Countrywide for a litany of problems.

You’ve heard the allegations before: These banks sold billions worth of mortgage-backed securities while lying about the thousands of funny little mortgages behind them.

Since Bank of America bought Countrywide, it will indeed pay for things Countrywide did. But it will pay for things it did, too.

The government is suing Bank of America for Countrywide, and it is suing Bank of America, separately, for things it did without Countrywide.

Bank of America issued a statement in response to the lawsuits, essentially saying Fannie and Freddie knew the risks of the securities they bought, and that the losses are due to a downturn in the housing market. But the United States of America would rather blame the Bank of America.

“BOA was one of the most aggressive competitors in the mortgage-origination market,” the government’s lawsuit reads.

And that’s where it hints that Bank of America was even worse than Countrywide:

“Even the top executives of Countrywide Financial Corp., the notorious mortgage lender ...complained to each other...that BOA’s appetite for risky products was greater than that of Countrywide,” the lawsuit reads.

“In a June 13, 2005, email, Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo wrote to President and COO David Sambol: “This is the third deal in the last 10 days that BOA has offered that is impossible to beat. In fact, the other two were substantially worse than this one. It appears to me that BOA is making an aggressive move into mortgages once again.’”

Imagine that. Bank of America doing mortgage deals that even Mozilo found shocking.

Read the whole thing at Marketwatch...

Comments

[DailyBail]

Max Keiser: "Pitchforks & Torches See Higher Prices, Where Are The Guillotines For Wall Street?"

http://dailybail.com/home/max-keiser-pitchforks-torches-see-higher-prices-where-are-th.html

[TA]

Anyone who believes a single thing that Mozilo says is a moron. The article is garbage.

[Sagebrush]

Max Keiser: "Pitchforks & Torches See Higher Prices, Where Are The Guillotines For Wall Street?"

Hopefully they are being built as we speak. They do need to be portable and easy to set up. When the crap hits the fan they'll be bouncing back and forth between D.C. and Wall Street like Ping-Pong balls.

[Jamie]

WHY IS SOMEONE NOT HELPING THE UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE THAT ARE MADE TO DEAL WITH BANK OF AMERICA AND HAS CAUSED SUCH STRESS AND GRIEF THAT FAMILIES ARE BEING TORN APART! BANK OF AMERICA ARE CROOKS AND LIARS! THEY HAVE CAUSED MY FAMILY SUCH GRIEF AND STRESS THAT I AM NOW SUFFERING FROM MEMORY LOSS! I do not have the money to hire an attorney! PLEASE HELP US!

[Brenda Brown]

Please!!!! someone help me I have tried to modify my mortgage twice. Each time I 've tried I"ve had to keep refaxing information.

[Tim K. Missouri]

I'm one of those people who lost their job do to the economy. I've been trying to get a loan modification for six months and Bank of America kept lossing paperwork and Tax returns, said couldn't find or never received. Everytime you call get passed from person to person, different story each time. They called week before last and said they had all paperwork and put in for foreclosure sale to be stopped. They crooks sold my house on the courthouse steps four days later, Bank of America stole my home! We can't let them get away with their corrupt ways!

[DailyBail]

Tim, Brenda, Jamie

I would refer you to 2 websites:

Foreclosure Hamlet and Stop Foreclosure Fraud

Look them both up on google.

There is a community of readers and commenters at both sites who can perhaps give you some help and advice.

[Ana Pelayo]

Bank Of America called to my house saying to tell my husband that the bank will modify our loan permanently and If My husband doesn't do what the bank is telling him to do, the bank will pick up our house. My huhsband decided to do as the Bank Of America told him to do. Bank Of America give us something that is called forbearance and lower our payments temporally, but later when it was the time to modify they Bank told my husband you don't qualify and by now the house is for sale. The evidence of fraude is very clear, they sent us a letter saying that the house will be in sell and we need to take action in 14 days, we visited the place with the address in the envelope en the man evicted my family with our own money and not only that but putted a lien for 10,000.00 and the mant told us that there were 3 Attornies and the Attorneys were to take our house away. American Enterprize did it in Montebello Californina The man, His name is Pedro Torres. Now I am in court but the our house was listed for sale 5/10/2012.

[Ana Pelayo]

The Pedro Torres, also charged us $ 5000.00 to do the job. What he was doing was taking away our house and our money. He is located at: 3109 West Beverly Blvd Suite A Montebello California 90640. He owns 3 different phone numbers, ( 323) 359-5113
(323)720-1740
Fax number: (323) 720-4686
He is tall, white. and spoke two lenguages, English and Spanish. He is the one who stole our Property Address: 39355 West Beacon Ln Palmdale California 93551. Please don't even get close to that person he did stolen property, and also stole our money. plus he authorized his self $ 10.000.00 and before this time our bank charged us $63,339,00 UNDER OUR LOAN.