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Nevada is asking to be cut loose from a multi-state settlement agreement reached in October 2008 with ""Bank of America"":http://www.bankofamerica.com following its acquisition of Countrywide just four months earlier.
[IMAGE]Attorneys general from a number of states filed lawsuits against Countrywide, alleging the subprime lender used predatory and deceptive mortgage lending practices. Those suits came after BofA took over the Countrywide.
BofA ""struck a deal"":http://dsnews.comarticles/bofa-settles-countrywide-lawsuits-with-84b-loan-modification-program-2008-10-06 with Nevada and the other states, agreeing to provide up to $8.4 billion in interest rate and principal reductions for Countrywide borrowers who
[COLUMN_BREAK]financed their homes with subprime or pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).
The loan modification program, which was developed by BofA in collaboration with the states' attorneys general, targeted 400,000 Countrywide customers whose mortgages were originated prior to December 31, 2007.
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is seeking to terminate her state's participation in the 2008 settlement agreement.
Masto has filed a complaint with a federal court in Reno, which alleges Bank of America violated the consent agreement because it did not provide loan modifications to eligible borrowers, and in some cases did not adhere to the parameters laid out in the settlement requiring modifications that reduced borrowers interest rates and monthly payments.
Masto says BofA ""materially breached the consent judgment"" and is requesting Nevada be released from the agreement and allowed to pursue its original claims against Countrywide from the 2008 suit.
A Bank of America spokesperson told the _New York Times_ that the company disagrees there has been any material breach of the consent order and will defend itself against Masto's allegations.
