Countrywide, IndyMac sued by homeowners

Countrywide Financial Corp., IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and 23 other defendants were sued by homeowners asking for $100 million in mortgage-fraud damages and a halt in debt collection and foreclosures.

The 24 homeowners claim that they were victims of a Ponzi scheme, according to a suit filed in state court in Mineola, N.Y., by lawyer Jacob Zamansky. The homeowners sued in November, claiming that they had been duped into taking out mortgages and investing the proceeds. On Wednesday they asked a judge to block collection of their debt and increased their damage demand from $50 million.

The suit asks a judge to impose a new standard on lenders that would limit loans to borrowers who are deemed suitable. Most of the homeowners were over the age of 60 and had fixed incomes.

"By extending these loans, the mortgage lenders have earned, and stand to earn over time, enormous finance and interest charges," the homeowners said in the complaint.

Calabasas-based Countrywide and Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp did not immediately return calls for comment.