Bank of America Mortgages w/ Plain Language Disclosure…

Oh, Kenny Boy, the pipes are calling! (Irish folk song)
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying, ’tis you must go and I must bide.

The month of April has really swung a hammer at Bank of America CEO, Kenneth D. Lewis, with more fun and good times ahead before the month is out. This once conservative lender and fiscally solid behemoth (B of A), (who surprised everyone in the mortgage business by taking on Countrywide, the former band leader of easy financing  for anyone with a heartbeat) is currently reaping loud criticism from stock holders and government alike.

Check out these recent happenings…

1) Despite reporting a $4.2 billion first-quarter profit on Apr. 20, investors drove the bank’s stock down 24%… a drop that contributed mightily to a 289.6-point decline in the Dow.
2) The following day Connecticut State Treasurer, Denise L. Nappier, called on Lewis to resign.
3) On Apr. 23 he and other credit-card chieftains will be jawboned at the White House by President Obama about high interest rates and predatory practices
4) And on Apr. 29,  he must face shareholders at BofA’s annual meeting.

For Maria Bartiromo’s full article in Business Week, click here…

Goodbye Countrywide, Hello Bank of America Home Loans

The Charlotte-based lender acquired Countrywide last July for $2.5 billion, as the housing market imploded, many of Countrywide’s loans soured, and the Calabassas, Calif.-based lender struggled to find new sources of capital. Countrywide, founded in 1969, had been blamed for aggressive lending practices that helped, in part, to fuel the housing boom, and the company faces a federal investigation and several lawsuits concerning its business practices.

In launching the new Bank of America Home Loans brand, the bank said it would offer customers a one-page loan summary in “straightforward language” that would explain information on an individual’s loans, including closing costs, interest rates, monthly payments and payment terms.

Bank of America’s lending volume increased 79% in the first quarter from the previous quarter to $89.3 billion in mortgage and home equity loans, largely as a result of a boom in refinancing as rates fall to record lows. Bank of America was the only top-five lender in the fourth quarter that maintained its volume of jumbo loans, which are too large for government backing and which private investors have largely shied away from.

For full Wall Street Journal article, click here…