Bofa

Bank of America Corp., which handles customer service on about 15% of U.S. home loans, has accounted for 30% of the mortgage complaints logged by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a new database made public by the federal watchdog. The level of customer discontent - far greater than at home-lending rivals Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. - reflects BofA's struggles since its 2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. in Calabasas. Countrywide had become the No. 1 mortgage firm by specializing in subprime and other high-risk loans.

It's long been a basic tenet of the business world: You give us more business, we'll reward your loyalty with better deals. That's how cable companies operate with their service packages. That's how phone companies work. And until now, that's pretty much how banks played things as well. Want to avoid checking-account fees? Maintain a higher balance or, better yet, take out a home loan. As of this month, however, about 2 million erstwhile Bank of America mortgage customers are scrambling to figure out their status after the bank sold servicing rights to their accounts to a company called Nationstar Mortgage.

NEW YORK - As Bank of America Corp. pulls itself free from a swamp of mortgage liabilities, new troubles keep threatening to suck it back under. BofA agreed to settle a big insurer's claims over faulty mortgage bonds for $1.7 billion Monday. But it found itself threatened with new legal action for failing to abide by a landmark settlement aimed at saving homeowners from foreclosure. The Charlotte, N.C., bank said it would settle a lawsuit dating from the financial crisis with mortgage insurance specialist MBIA Inc. The insurer had been pressing BofA for more than $5 billion in damages.

NEW YORK - As Bank of America Corp. pulls itself free from a swamp of mortgage liabilities, new troubles keep threatening to suck it back under. BofA agreed to settle a big insurer's claims over faulty mortgage bonds for $1.7 billion Monday. But it found itself threatened with new legal action for failing to abide by a landmark settlement aimed at saving homeowners from foreclosure. The Charlotte, N.C., bank said it would settle a lawsuit dating from the financial crisis with mortgage insurance specialist MBIA Inc. The insurer had been pressing BofA for more than $5 billion in damages.

This is a story of persistence. In the case of Miriam Ramirez, it's the story of trying to obtain a much-needed loan modification from Bank of America. In BofA's case, it's the story of giving a mortgage customer the runaround for two years . Loan modifications have been an increasingly nettlesome issue as millions of homeowners struggle to make mortgage payments during the economic slump. The Obama administration has called upon banks to be more diligent in assisting customers prior to foreclosing on properties.

Bank of America Corp. customers were unable to access its electronic banking operations and telephone call centers Friday morning. "We're addressing the issue as quickly as possible," said Mark Pipitone, a technology and operations spokesman at the bank. "We're also working closely with our customers to help them alleviate any concerns. " The bank's ATMs were functioning normally, he said. Pipitone declined to provide details of what caused the extensive outage. It wasn't known if it was related to cyber attacks by a shadowy hacker group in the Middle East last September that disrupted the electronic operations at the nation's largest banks: BofA, Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., U.S. Bancorp and PNC Financial Services.

PennyMac Financial Services Inc., the 5-year-old mortgage company founded by former Countrywide Financial Corp. President Stanford L. Kurland, plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.  PennyMac , which makes, buys, sells and services residential loans, intends to raise up to $287.5 million in a public offering, the Moorpark-based company said in a prospectus filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  ...

It's long been a basic tenet of the business world: You give us more business, we'll reward your loyalty with better deals. That's how cable companies operate with their service packages. That's how phone companies work. And until now, that's pretty much how banks played things as well. Want to avoid checking-account fees? Maintain a higher balance or, better yet, take out a home loan. As of this month, however, about 2 million erstwhile Bank of America mortgage customers are scrambling to figure out their status after the bank sold servicing rights to their accounts to a company called Nationstar Mortgage.

Bank of America Corp. quadrupled its first-quarter profit, reducing expenses and loan losses and reporting better brokerage and investment banking results, but continued to be bogged down by its mortgage operations, disappointing investors. Trying to regain forward momentum after two years of downsizing, the nation's second-largest bank said Wednesday its revenue fell 8% from last year to $23.9 billion. That was better than the $23.4 billion Wall Street had expected, in contrast with rival megabanks Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan & Co., which missed analysts' estimates for revenue when they reported results last week.

Bank of America Corp. revealed Wednesday that the Federal Reserve rejected its plan for a modest dividend increase in the second half of the year, even as other large banks are raising dividends in the first half of the year. The bank, based in Charlotte, said in a securities filing that it would continue to work with the Fed and planned to submit a revised capital plan that would again call for a modest increase in the quarterly dividend, now at 1 cent a share. A spokesman said BofA would resubmit its proposal in "the coming months.

Bank of America Corp. quadrupled its first-quarter profit, reducing expenses and loan losses and reporting better brokerage and investment banking results, but continued to be bogged down by its mortgage operations, disappointing investors. Trying to regain forward momentum after two years of downsizing, the nation's second-largest bank said Wednesday its revenue fell 8% from last year to $23.9 billion. That was better than the $23.4 billion Wall Street had expected, in contrast with rival megabanks Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan & Co., which missed analysts' estimates for revenue when they reported results last week.

Can the ultimate too-big-to-fail bank persuade customers that it is humble? A new Bank of America Corp. ad campaign is taking on that task, with the tag line "Life's Better When We're Connected" replacing “Bank of Opportunity.” “We need to focus on customer needs first and we know our place,” Meredith Verdone, BofA's head of brand marketing, told Ad Age, which reported Friday that the campaign would roll out during the NCAA basketball...

Take a Bank of America card out of your wallet this weekend and museum doors will open to you -- for free. Credit or debit card holders receive free admission at more than 150 museums around the country. This will come in handy for travelers who want to spend two days museum-hopping while on the road. The deal: I've written about the Museums on Us program, but it bears a reminder for cardholders who might not know about this cultural perk. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch cardholders this weekend will receive admission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (usually $25)

It's simple these days to video chat with your daughter when she's in Thailand. Why not talk to a teller when the bank is closed? Bank of America Corp. has begun rolling out ATMs with video displays that enable customers to speak with a bank employee from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. “We know that customers want to bank on their schedule -- not ours,” Katy Knox, BofA's retail banking executive, said in a news release. Quiz: How much do you know about mortgages? The ATMs, with teller assistance in English and Spanish, are being introduced in Boston and Atlanta, BofA said Thursday, with other markets to follow.

In yet another home lending legal settlement, Bank of America Corp. will pay regulators $165 million related to losses that big credit unions suffered on mortgage-backed securities. The settlement, announced Tuesday, stems from efforts by the National Credit Union Administration to recover losses at five failed corporate credit unions, including Western Corporate Federal Credit Union in San Dimas. The corporates, also known as wholesale credit unions, act as backup banks for retail credit unions that directly serve members of the public.

WASHINGTON -- Bailed-out Fannie Mae on Tuesday reported a record $17.2 billion profit for 2012, driven by the housing-market recovery and a big settlement with Bank of America related to soured mortgages during the subprime boom. The housing finance giant, now owned by taxpayers after it was rescued in 2008 along with sibling firm Freddie Mac, posted a loss of $16.9 billion in 2011. “Our financial results improved significantly in 2012 and we expect our earnings to remain strong over the next few years,” said Fannie Mae Chief Executive Timothy J. Mayopoulos.

Bowing to a national flood of protests, Bank of America Corp. is calling off its plan to charge customers $5 a month for using its debit cards to make purchases -- a strategy that proved a public relations disaster for what once was America's biggest bank. Analysts had believed the rest of the banking industry would follow BofA in imposing similar fees to make up for new rules restricting the fees banks charge merchants for accepting debit cards. But instead, the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant finds itself following the lead of a host of rivals who decided last week not to incur the wrath of the American public with debit-card fees.

Bank of America says it has begun a pilot program offering some of its mortgage customers who are facing foreclosure a chance to stay in their homes by becoming renters instead of owners. The "Mortgage to Lease" program, which was launched this week, will be available to fewer than 1,000 BofA customers selected by the bank in test markets in Arizona, Nevada and New York. Participants will transfer their home's title to the bank, which will then forgive the outstanding mortgage debt.

Bank of America Corp., which handles customer service on about 15% of U.S. home loans, has accounted for 30% of the mortgage complaints logged by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a new database made public by the federal watchdog. The level of customer discontent - far greater than at home-lending rivals Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. - reflects BofA's struggles since its 2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. in Calabasas. Countrywide had become the No. 1 mortgage firm by specializing in subprime and other high-risk loans.

John G. Stumpf, chief executive of Wells Fargo & Co., made more than any banker in America last year - $22.87 million. Stumpf's pay package, disclosed Thursday, was up 15% from 2011, an increase Wells said reflected the San Francisco-based bank's strong performance. Wells earned $18.9 billion, up 19% from 2011, during a year in which big banks collectively turned in near-record profits. The runner-up at $21 million - a 75% increase - was Lloyd C. Blankfein, CEO of New York's Goldman Sachs Group, whose pay has been notably lofty over the years.