Tag Archives: Bank of America

Ongoing settlement negotiations between Bank of America and the Justice Department to resolve an investigation into the bank's role in the mortgage crisis reached a stalemate Monday as the government reportedly rejected the bank's earlier $12 billion offer.

Bank of America is negotiating a settlement of at least $12 billion to end investigations into alleged misconduct related to toxic mortgages, according to media reports. Citing reports from "people familiar with the negotiations," the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that the megabank has been working fervently over the week to come to an agreement with the Justice Department and put an end to speculation on the potential size of the settlement.

In a report originally in Reuters, Ocwen will stop requiring gag orders, which disallowed some homeowners from criticizing the company publicly in exchange for having their loan terms modified, according to New York State's Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky.

A curious piece of text is appearing in some homeowner's loan modification agreements—by accepting a modification from a bank or non-bank servicer, the homeowner agrees to never publicly say, write, or post anything negative about the company doing the modification. Originally in a report from Reuters, Ocwen, Bank of America, and PNC Financial Services Group are adding new terms to their modification contracts to prevent homeowners from publicly disparaging the companies.

More than two years after the announcement of an historic settlement between 49 state attorneys general and some of the country's largest servicers, most are living up to compliance standards, a new report shows. According to examination results released by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight, five of the six banks met or exceeded expectations across 29 different compliance metrics in the third and fourth quarters of 2013.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that a $7.5 million settlement has been reached with Bank of America’s former CFO, Joe Price, regarding the bank's actions as it sought to merge with Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2008.

For three straight quarters, California foreclosure starts remain little changed, hovering at a level last seen in early 2006. According to a market study released by DataQuick, steady economic growth and higher home values are responsible for the steady pace of new foreclosures.

Bank of America’s first-quarter earnings were hit hard by legal expenses, resulting in a net loss of $276 million to start the year. The loss follows a profitable fourth quarter of 2013, which saw the bank taking in $3.4 billion. For the first quarter of 2013, BofA reported net income of $1.5 billion. The results for the first quarter include $6 billion in litigation expenses related to a major settlement the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over legacy securities claims.

After a steep plunge in the amount of housing finance aid given to banks, federal money poured into the country’s largest lenders in 2012 and 2013, as liquidity at the banks found stable ground, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Bank of America has agreed to a multibillion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to resolve allegations of securities fraud. According to announcements made by all parties involved, under the agreement, BofA will make an aggregate payment of approximately $9.33 billion, $3.2 billion of which will go toward the repurchase of certain RMBS at fair market value.