Bank of America, however, is the largest provider of mortgage customer service, handling billing on $2.1 trillion in home loans at the end of last year compared with $1.8 trillion for Wells Fargo, according to National Mortgage News.
In his book, "The Foreclosure of America," former Countrywide marketing executive Adam Michaelson traces the decline of the brand. Michaelson, who worked at Countrywide for three years starting in 2003, recalls predicting to a co-worker in July 2004 that a big East Coast bank would someday buy Countrywide -- and that it probably would be Bank of America.
"It's always cheaper to buy it instead of building it yourself," Michaelson wrote. "But also they're the only brand that's as apple pie as Countrywide."
By the time Countrywide toppled into Lewis' embrace in January 2008, the perceptions had diverged, Michaelson wrote.
"Besides being one of the only financial firms large enough to absorb the absolutely huge mortgage portfolio, legal woes, and liabilities that Countrywide brought with it, Bank of America was one of the few truly powerful brands in America capable of potentially undoing the marketing damage that had been done."
Burying the Countrywide name is wise, said Bruce D. Miller, chief executive of Dailey, a West Hollywood advertising firm, whose clients have included several lenders.
"I think it was just too toxic to resuscitate," he said. "It will set the record straight that it's a completely different company."
But he warned of trouble if Bank of America can't fulfill its pledges to consumers:
"It's what I call 'anticipointment,' " Miller said. "You can't make a promise and then have people feel you broke it, or you're worse off than when you started. So now they just need to live up to it."
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scott.reckard@latimes.com
