Tag Archives: Bank of America

After hearing arguments for a month in a Manhattan federal court, a 10-person jury found Bank of American liable for one charge of fraud involving high-risk mortgages originated by Countrywide and then sold to the GSEs. Also found liable for fraud was Rebecca Mairone, who worked as COO for one of Countrywide's lending divisions and who was responsible for overseeing the company's "High Speed Swim Lane" program, often referred to as "the Hustle."

Joseph A. Smith, the monitor overseeing fulfillment efforts put forward by each servicer involved in the National Mortgage Settlement, has issued a report on their progress satisfying consumer relief obligations outlined in the agreement. Smith's report covers servicer activities through December 31, 2012, which have been vetted and verified by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. Each servicer's internal review group provided Smith with information on the servicers' crediting progress in February of this year.

Bank of America released Wednesday its third-quarter earnings report, showing healthy growth despite an expected weakening in its mortgage banking operations. According to the earnings release, BofA took in $2.5 billion in Q3, a significant increase from the $340 million reported in the year-ago quarter. However, the bank's Consumer Real Estate Services division reported a net loss of $1.0 billion, faring even worse than last year's loss of $857 million.

According to a report from FOX Business, executives at Citi told reporters the company will cut an estimated 2,200 jobs from its mortgage business "by early next year" due to rising mortgage rates driving down demand. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that Bank of America is cutting 2,100 jobs and closing 16 offices by the end of October, according to "two people with direct knowledge of the plan." Citi and BofA aren't the only banks to be impacted by rising interest rates and improved loan performance.

The mortgage servicing industry's efforts to adhere to nationwide reforms hasn't gone unnoticed by consumers, according to J.D. Power's 2013 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study.

Bank of America reported a major boost in profits for the second quarter despite a drop in mortgage banking income. According to its quarterly earnings report, BofA pulled in approximately $4.0 billion in Q2, an increase of 63 percent over the $2.5 billion recorded for Q2 2012. On the origination side, the bank funded $26.8 billion in residential home loans and home equity loans, up 7 percent over the first quarter and 41 percent over the same quarter last year.

Estimated Q1 originations by all U.S. lenders came out to about $505 billion, according to Mortgage Daily.

KeyBank Real Estate Capital, the commercial real estate business unit of KeyCorp, entered into agreements with Bank of America and Berkadia Commercial Mortgage that will lead it to become one of the nation's largest commercial mortgage servicers.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman revealed plans Monday to take legal action against Bank of America and Wells Fargo for allegedly violating terms under the national mortgage settlement reached in February 2012. The AG's office also revealed Schneiderman sent a letter last week to the settlement monitor Joseph Smith and to each member of the Monitoring Committee notifying them of his intention to sue the banks if the committee does not act.

Bank of America's first quarter net income nearly quadrupled over that of last year, according to the bank's quarterly filings. BofA reported Wednesday net income of $2.6 billion for the first quarter of 2013, up from $653 million the same quarter last year. Revenue was $23.7 billion, up from $22.5 billion a year ago. On the residential lending front, the company reported lower mortgage banking income, largely as a result of lower servicing income.