Hot damn...hell has frozen over.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Bank Of America Found Liable For Countrywide’s “Hustle” Scam

A federal jury has found Bank of America (and a current JPMorgan executive) liable for a Countrywide Financial program that knowingly sold piles of cruddy home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, meaning the bank could face nearly $850 million more in penalties added to the $40 billion-plus court tab it has tallied since acquiring the cratering mortgage-lender in 2008.

http://consumerist.com/2013/10/23/bank-of-america-found-liable-for-countrywides-hustle-scam/

story carries Oct. 23 date, but is the first I have seen of it.

I still think criminal charges should be brought, but large fines DO hit them where it counts..in the profits.

edited to add:
Ironically, one of those Countrywide "No doc" loans was mine.
We could, and can, afford to pay the mortgage, but at the time of buying our house,
had just entered retirement and did not have proof of all of our pending income.
No problem, as it turned out, for Countrywide.

Once in awhile, a silver lining.

[hollysmom]

1. but the fines are not as large as the profit, cost of doing business

[Cleita]

2. Some senior VPs need to do prison time as well or

those fines will be written off as a business expense.

[GoneFishin]

14. Yep. Losing some cash when they already have more than they can spend is not a serious

punishment or disincentive. They would write a check for 4 times that amount and say thank you if the alternative was 5 years in an actual prison.

[adirondacker]

17. Corporations are people! Mandatory life sentences included. nt

[HereSince1628]

3. Unfortunately, $850 million is a tiny fraction of their profiteering

They'll sit back and laugh about such a petty slap.

[Scuba]

4. As long as fines < profits, and nobody goes in the slammer, the crimes will continue.

[eggplant]

5. Are you allowed to say "Hot damn" when hell freezes over? n/t

[JHB]

6. As long as you don't say it three times after midnight n/t

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Fantastic...

I need to copy that for future reference.

[DeSwiss]

10. De nada.

[2banon]

9. Misleading Headlines are a major pet peave for me..

[NuclearDem]

11. It's alright, give them a day and they'll make it all back.

Hell won't have frozen over unless some high level executives see the inside of a prison cell.

[Sophiegirl]

12. Educate me, please...

...and forgive my ignorance in this matter.

What exactly happens to all these fines? Where do they go? What are they used for? The homeowners who were taken advantage of don't seem to benefit from them....or do they in some way? How does it really hurt these companies?

[LiberalEsto]

15. First, the companies appeal, then appeal some more

and string it out until most of the players are dead.

Being a corporation means never having to take real responsibility.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Well, the fines are supposed to go to the SEC...

from tehre where they trickle to I dunno.
But..given the exceedingly high level of fraud and lack of rule of lsw, I suspect they may be fines only on paper.

then again, have been hopeful that the increasing charges and fines against all the TBTF banks might be a way the government is grabbing money.

In any event, us "little people" get zilch.

[Mira]

13. This is just fabulous. Almost makes me

think it's a birthday present for someone dear to me (like yourself) I know the special day is in the air.

I hope the highest possible fines will be levied!

Thanks for the good news.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. I would be willing to age twice a year if I could have, as a present,

the sight of BOA on its last legs.

[tavernier]

16. My friend is a teller at Bank of America

Guess she'll be getting a cut in pay soon.

[paulkienitz]

18. but can we blame B of A for Countrywide?

I'm not sure what really happened behind the scenes, but at the time I got the distinct impression that B of A's purchase of Countrywide was more like "taking one for the team" than acquiring something valuable they really wanted. Like someone leaned on them to buy it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Well, I can blame them for a lot of illegal behaviors

which the courts seem to be concurring with , judging from all the fines over the last couple years.
Many other charges are still on the docket waiting to be heard.

[IrishAyes]

19. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

One time I paid off a car loan with BofA and got the usual congratulatory letter. Six months later they sent me another bill claiming I still owed them $300. No matter how many times I showed them proof that I was paid up, they wound up turning me over to a collection agency. I went to the state attorney general with my complaint and proof to get the bank off my neck. Along the way I found out from any number of other former customers that BofA had a habit of doing that. Most people paid the extortion because the amount was never over $300, and it would've cost them more than that to hire a lawyer. I didn't need a lawyer.