BofA Launches Unified Mortgage Brand

""Bank of America"":http://www.bankofamerica.com announced on Monday that it has combined its mortgage and home equity operations with Countrywide Home Loans under the umbrella of a single brand - ""Bank of America Home Loans"":http://www.bankofamerica.com/homeloans.
BofA said that just 10 months after acquiring the subprime lending leader, the Countrywide brand is now retired. Other Countrywide-owned businesses involved in the deal will retain their brands, including ""Balboa Insurance Services"":http://www.balboainsurance.com, a provider of lender-placed property insurance, and ""LandSafe"":http://www.landsafe.com, a supplier of pre- and post-closing services.
With the new brand launch, Bank of America also unveiled an array of borrower tools that it says will provide homebuyers and homeowners with a greater understanding of the home finance process, including the Clarity Commitment, a disclosure document summarizing loan details, and a consumer Web site detailing procedures to refinance a mortgage.
Barbara Desoer, president of the new Bank of America Home Loans, said, ""We met with thousands of customers and created tools that reflect the transparency they want in the home-buying process. Doing the right thing for our customers is the foundation of our brand promise to always be a responsible lender and help create successful homeowners, and these tools exemplify that promise.""
Bank of America describes its Clarity Commitment as ""a simple one-page summary in straightforward language designed to make it easier for customers to understand terms of their loan."" The document presents borrowers with information about their interest rate, monthly payment, payment terms, and an explanation of closing costs and other loan information. It is provided to consumers at both the application and closing stages of the process, and is available on most new purchase and refinance transactions, including traditional and government-backed loans.
The ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org (MBA) praised Bank of America for its Clarity Commitment disclosure. MBA's president and CEO, John A. Courson, said, ""MBA applauds this initiative to help ensure that all borrowers clearly understand the loan they are getting and the fees they are paying. We have long believed that an educated, informed borrower is far less likely to end up in a loan they do not understand and cannot afford. Efforts like these will help restore faith and rebuild confidence in the housing and mortgage markets.""
The Bank of America Home Loan Guide is part of the new ""Bank of America Home Loans"":http://www.bankofamerica.com/homeloans Web site. The company explained that this new interactive online center is intended to arm borrowers with the personalized information they need to rightfully prepare for homeownership and make informed home buying and refinance decisions. The Home Loan Guide is designed to help homeowners looking to refinance better understand the criteria that drive lenders' decisions and steps they can take to find the right home loan product.
The bank also introduced a new mortgage product - Flat Fee Mortgage Plus - available through its 6,100 banking centers nationwide. With Flat Fee Mortgage Plus, there is no application fee and homebuyers are presented with one closing fee that includes charges from the lender as well as the fees required for other third-party services. BofA explained that the product features a ""close-on-time guarantee and best value guarantee,"" and will be made available through additional channels in the future.
Desoer said, ""Purchasing a home is one of the biggest decisions an individual makes, and we take seriously our responsibility to educate customers and arm them with the information they need to make smart decisions. Especially in this environment, it's important that consumers understand the true, comprehensive costs of homeownership so they can buy a home and enjoy it with confidence.""
As the second largest mortgage lender in the nation, Bank of America originates and services one out of every five mortgages in the country, representing a servicing portfolio of almost 14 million loans. During the first quarter of 2009, Bank of America funded $85 billion in first mortgages, compared to $22 billion a year earlier. The company said that in the first quarter alone, it helped more than 382,000 Americans purchase a home or refinance.
According to Desoer, ""Bank of America Home Loans has the scale, capacity, and capability to respond to the significant customer demand we’ve seen recently. We are actively lending in this economic environment and continue to be open for business to new and existing customers.""
In addition, Bank of America has committed to offer modifications for as many as 630,000 customers to help them stay in their homes. In the first quarter, the company said it completed loan modifications for 119,000 borrowers. Bank of America currently has more than 6,400 home retention associates dedicated to this effort.
The company also previously announced a $35 million neighborhood preservation and foreclosure prevention package awarded as grants and low-cost loans to help local and national nonprofit organizations engaged in foreclosure prevention, and to purchase vacant single-family homes for neighborhood rehabilitation.
Bank of America reported a $4.25 billion first-quarter profit, largely due to the surge in mortgage production. In its attempt to shore up the nation's financial system, the government has provided $163 billion in bailout money and loan guarantees to Bank of America, which also bought Merrill Lynch & Co. last year.