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BofA seeks housing fix

By
Post Staff Report
Published Nov. 17, 2010, 5:00 a.m. ET

A quick settlement of the 50-state probe of the US mortgage foreclosure crisis would be the best solution for all involved, the chief executive of Bank of America said yesterday.

The call for a settlement by BofA CEO Brian Moynihan was followed by a report from CNBC that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the probe, was getting close to a settlement with BofA, the largest US mortgage servicer, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Under the proposed settlement, the banks would pay into a fund for foreclosed borrowers, CNBC reported.

The settlement, which was not expected for at least a month, would also include banks doing away with simultaneous modification and foreclosure proceedings with individual borrowers, the report said.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has become the latest US regulator to investigate banks for possible fraud in the $6.4 trillion mortgage-bond market, Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino reported yesterday, citing sources.

The panel’s chairman, Phil Angelides, has begun looking into whether mortgages that were packaged as bonds and are now held by investors, including government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were handled improperly, Gasparino said.

Locally, New York City Comptroller John Liu said yesterday that independent directors at banks under fire for their foreclosure practices should conduct an audit of those practices.

Liu, who serves as investment adviser and trustee to city pension funds valued at $106 billion, made the request in a shareholder proposal filed at four banks — BofA, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Citigroup.

The news came as top officials from BofA and JPMorgan Chase testified before the Senate Banking Committee in the first appearances on Capitol Hill by major lenders since the furor over sloppy foreclosure paperwork erupted in September.

Miller, in prepared testimony to the committee, said the mortgage-servicing system is incapable of handling foreclosures and is hindering efforts to modify loans and keep borrowers in their homes.

“The current mortgage servicing system was not designed for any of the tasks it is being asked to perform, and it certainly is not equipped to perform such tasks at anywhere near the scope and scale of the foreclosure crisis,” he said.

Also yesterday, the Congressional Oversight Panel warned that widespread problems in how US lenders documented foreclosures could spark a wave of legal challenges resulting in massive losses to banks.