Tag Archives: Bank of America

Another week rolled by with more instances of mortgage fraud, as reported by several news outlets from around the country. Defendants alternately received indictments, pled guilty, and submitted to their sentences from courts as a result of allegations and convictions stemming from mortgage fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money-laundering activities. The alleged activities resulted in millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained money from lenders.

Big lenders are set to unload up to $5 billion in commercial mortgage bonds, with planned securities offerings scheduled in September and October. Participating financial institutions include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The upcoming bond sales are largely attributed to the effects of struggling U.S. employment numbers, the European debt crisis, and the resistance against debt.

The Mortgage Bankers Association came out Thursday with a list that ranks commercial and multifamily mortgage servicers on the basis of their loan size, financial balance, and amount lent to borrowers midyear 2011. Wells Fargo achieved the number-one spot for both master servicing and commercial mortgage-backed securities. According to a statement, the MBA said that Wells Fargo, PNC Mortgage Real Estate, and Bank of America topped the master and primary servicing list for commercial and multifamily CMBS loans.

Spurred by ongoing fears about a global economic slowdown and the spreading European debt contagion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average replayed the daytime drama previously seen last week by plunging by over 400 points. As before, the nosedive crashed a party exclusive to mortgage banks and homebuilding companies, gutting their stocks and closing shares at new lows. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo saw their stocks drop, mirroring sharp losses for Beazer Homes, D.R. Horton, KBH Homes, and Lennar Corp.

In an endeavor to get ahead of mortgage-related woes from the financial crisis, mortgage giant Bank of America has offered to sell a chunk of its mortgage portfolio servicing rights to GSE Fannie Mae, according to the Wall Street Journal. The sale of bad loan rights to the government entity may shift new bulk onto federal balance sheets at a time when the GSE recently posted second-quarter losses and announced plans to petition the government for more taxpayer funds.

American International Group is heading to court with Bank of America. AIG filed a lawsuit Monday against the bank, targeting BAC├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós alleged misrepresentation of mortgage-backed securities. AIG├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós claims focus on BAC├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial components, and the entity is seeking over $10 billion in compensation in what could be the largest mortgage-security lawsuit ever filed by an individual investor. The suit alleges that the bank fraudulently represented the quality of mortgage-backed securities purchased by AIG.

The government sponsored enterprises are feeling the heat from Bank of America. A recent filing from BAC targets Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, stating that the criteria by which the GSEs are ultimately willing to resolve claims have become more rigid over time. By the numbers, BAC sold an estimated $1.1 trillion in mortgage loans to Fannie and Freddie between 2004 and 2008, and during the second quarter of this year, approximately $121 billion of the GSE-owned loans were in default or more than 180 days in arrears.

On Thursday news reports confirmed that mortgage giant JPMorgan plans to scale back a $154 billion mortgage portfolio to a bare minimum on its balance sheets, even as it battles through continuing mortgage losses, multiple suits and settlements over past loan-servicing practices.

After a contentious suit against Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, MBIA Inc. ended a lawsuit against the mortgage giant over $5.7 billion in bad credit default protection the insurer underwrote for the bank's mortgage-backed securities. According to the filing, MBIA and Bank of America both agreed to voluntarily withdraw the claims and cover their fees for their separate cases. MBIA had sued Merrill in April 2009 with accompanying allegations that the bank committed fraud.

In a statement released Friday, Bank of America announced that it tapped Terry Laughlin to head up the risk management division as chief risk officer. [IMAGE] Terry is steeped in the issues that represent the most significant risk we face, and his ultimate transition into the chief risk officer position reflects that and his deep industry expertise, CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement.