The New York Times reports today that Bank of America is still firmly committed to acquiring crippled mortgage giant Countrywide Financial.  After reading the article, we’re convinced that the deal isn’t going to happen. According to the Times, Bank of America’s chief executive Kenneth D. Lewis “confirmed his commitment to the Countrywide buyout, which is expected to close by

Given its central role in the subprime mortgage debacle, it is no surprise that Countrywide Financial has become politically radioactive. The most recent evidence for the politically deadly consequences of an association with Countrywide or its corporate officers is the sudden and ungraceful exit of businessman James A. Johnson, a long time Washington insider and lobbyist, from

The scandal involving special “sweetheart” loans to politicians and Washington insiders by Countrywide Financial is both heating up and widening. Earlier this week, James A. Johnson was forced to step down as head of Barack Obama’s vice president selection team when it was revealed that he had profited from special deals on three home loans with Countrywide that were

In the first state action against Countrywide Financial, the Attorney General of Illinois is suing Countrywide and its chief executive, Angelo Mozilo, claiming that the company and its executives engaged in unfair and deceptive practices that defrauded borrowers by selling them costly and defective loans that quickly went into foreclosure. The lawsuit, which will be filed on Wednesday in

California has joined Illinois today as states suing beleaguered subprime mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp. for deceptive loan practices. In a lawsuit filed this morning in Los Angeles Superior Court, California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued Countrywide Financial, its chief executive Angelo Mozilo, and president David Sambol, for engaging in deceptive advertising and unfair competition by

The small company I mentioned in one of my previous articles had recently been incoporated into a bigger one and their office been demoted to a mere depot which resulted in several cutbacks including a phone lines switch from ISDN (2 lines, 3 phone numbers) to analogue (1 line, 1 number), 2 phones to

GONE are the days when you had to wait in queue to finish your bank work. These days you have smarter options. You can transfer money, online, check your savings account balance on your cellphone and track the status of your cheque at your local ATM. Yet banks still mess up. An extra charge, here. A cheque

This is too complicated for the likes of the folks in Congress, or for that matter anyone else and thus too many cooks are allowing the decline in property values to continue to plunge and to become runaway housing deflation, with no effective solutions on the horizon. This is very bad for two reasons.

Florida has joined Illinois and California as states suing subprime lender Countrywide Financial for deceptive and unfair trade practices. The Florida lawsuit claims that Countrywide put borrowers into mortgages they couldn’t afford or loans with rates and penalties that were misleading. As in the Illinois and Californiaactions, Countrywide CEO Executive Angelo Mozilo was also named as a

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire today announced plans by her state to fine Countrywide Home Loans $1 million for discriminatory lending. In addition, the company will be required to pay more than $5 million in back assessments the company failed to pay. Gregoire also announced the state is seeking to revoke Countrywide’s license to do business in Washington