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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)--In the largest predatory lending settlement in U.S. history, Countrywide Financial Corp. has agreed to modify home loans as part of a settlement with 11 states. Countrywide was sued by a handful of state attorneys general, who alleged that the lender engaged in predatory lending practices, including misrepresenting loan terms and borrowers' ability to afford loans.

A massive $8.4 billion homeowner rescue plan announced Monday by the Bank of America will provide some relief for an estimated 125,000 Californians who are having trouble making payments on sub-prime loans and other risky mortgages from Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide for $4 billion July 1 after the Calabasas-based home loan giant, among the largest sub-prime lenders in the state, collapsed under the weight of mounting defaults and foreclosures. The bank's "Home Ownership Retention Program for Countrywide Customers'' was devised by California and 10 other states to settle predatory lending lawsuits filed against Countrywide. The plan...

The possible collapse of one of world's biggest investment banks could be "catastrophic" and lead to the "implosion" of the banking sector, Sky sources say. British bank Barclays had appeared to be the frontrunner to take over the struggling Lehman Brothers but has pulled out of the bidding, a source close to the deal said. And a consortium led by the Bank of America is reported to have also dropped out. ~ snip ~

Bank of America is in advanced talks to buy Merrill Lynch for at least $38.25 billion in stock, people briefed on the negotiations said on Sunday, as a means to preserve that investment bank while Lehman Brothers looks likely to collapse. A deal, at between $25 a share to $30 a share, could be announced as soon as Sunday night, these people said. Merrill shares closed at $17.05 on Friday.

Bank of America, JC Flowers & Co, the financial investor, and China Investment Co, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, are considering a possible joint bid for Lehman Brothers, the embattled Wall Street bank. According to people familiar with the matter, the BofA-led group is among those examining a rescue of Lehman, which is racing to find a buyer after shareholders, creditors and counterparties gave a thumbs-down to its efforts to survive as an independent entity. Barclays, the UK bank, is also interested.

The global financial crisis is set to get worse, with a large US bank likely to collapse in the next few months, a former IMF chief economist has warned. Kenneth Rogoff's comments came as shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sank on a report that the home lenders would, in effect, be nationalised. Despite hopes that the US economy had turned the corner, Mr Rogoff claimed it was "not out of the woods". "I would even go further to say 'the worst is to come'," he said. "We're not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), the largest U.S. retail bank, said on Thursday it received subpoenas and requests for information relating to auction-rate securities from federal and state government agencies. Separately, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said Countrywide Financial Corp, the mortgage lending giant it bought last month, has responded to subpoenas from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and faces a formal investigation by that agency. In addition, Bank of America said it received subpoenas, interrogatories or civil investigative demands from a number of state attorneys general regarding municipal derivatives transactions from 1992 to the...

You've probably gotten angry when you think some big company did you wrong. The NBC 10 investigators spoke with one local man who decided he had enough and he was going to tell the world about his experience. He was angry and wasn't going to take it anymore, but instead of going to his window and yelling, the Fishtown man decided on another way to let everyone know. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Avi Oslick said. In 1976, a fictional broadcaster in the movie "Network" told people to go to their window when...

<p>National Review Online has obtained an internal Bank of America "discussion document" (pdf here) on the subject of the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act of 2008, a.k.a. the Dodd-Shelby mortgage-lender bailout bill.</p> <p>Yesterday, Tim Carney reported that the prevailing sentiment on Capitol Hill is that the Dodd-Shelby bill "is exactly what Bank of America and Countrywide wanted." BofA is in the process of acquiring Countrywide. Countrywide is currently embroiled in a scandal over its V.I.P. program, under which several powerful politicians, including Sen. Chris Dodd, got preferential loan rates.</p>

(CBS) It was a tempting sight for struggling landscaper Eli Estrada: a bag filled with $140,000 on a Cerritos street. There was his credit card debt, upcoming wedding and making ends meet with his artificial grass and landscaping business. But turning it over to Long Beach police last month was the right thing to do, he said. The 40-year-old Estrada admits that some days "I think I was nuts," but he adds, "I know in my gut that to keep that money would be wrong." The Bank of America money bag was lost March 11 by Brinks Armored truck drivers. The...

Firms under scrutiny regarding certain bidding practices Antitrust and securities regulators are considering charges against a handful of large banks, bond insurers and some of their employees as part of an investigation into certain municipal-bond investments. Bank of America, UBS AG and bond insurer Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. last month received notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating civil enforcement action may be taken against them for potentially violating federal securities laws about bidding practices on contracts that manage municipal funds. The "Wells notices" sent by the SEC, which the companies disclosed in regulatory filings, also give the...

Credit-card issuers have drawn fire for jacking up interest rates on cardholders who aren't behind on payments, but whose credit score has fallen for another reason. Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America (BAC) is hiking rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all. The major credit-card lender in mid-January sent letters notifying some responsible cardholders that it would more than double their rates to as high as 28%, without giving an explanation for the increase, according to copies of five letters obtained by BusinessWeek. Fine print at the end of the letter—headed "Important Amendment to...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank of America, stung by a $5.3 billion mortgage-related writedown, reported quarterly results Tuesday that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) shares fell more than 5 percent in pre-market trading on the news. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company said its net income plunged 95 percent to $268 million, or 5 cents a share, from $5.26 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 31 percent to $12.67 billion from $18.48 billion in the 2006 period. Those results were much worse than analysts had anticipated. The company was expected to...

Lavish Payout, Perks for Failed Mortgage CEO His Severance Package Includes Jet Use, Country Club Dues and a Hefty Payout By DANIEL ARNALL ABC NEWS Business Unit Jan. 11, 2008 — Angelo Mozilo, the co-founder and public face of troubled mortgage giant Countrywide, is eligible for tens if not hundreds of millions in compensation and perks on the sale of the company to Bank of America. During calendar 2006, the latest period available for review in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Mozilo took home $48.1 million in compensation. An early analysis of SEC filings by the Los Angeles Times suggests...

This came to me via emailBank of America, can I help you? Customer: Yes, I want to cancel my account. I don't want to do business with you any longer. The Bank: Why? Customer: You're giving credit to illegal immigrants and I don't think it's right. I'm taking my business elsewhere. The Bank: Well, Mr. Customer, we don't want to see you do that, but we can't stop you. I'll help you close the account. What is your account number? Customer: (gives account number) The Bank: For security purposes and for your protection, can you please give me the last...

Per the source article, Bank of America is running three page Ads for their IRAs in New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Each page of the Ad has one of the three letters of "IRA" sized to be about 11 inches (learned of this from a finacial radio talk show). The rest of the page gives multiple choices for the meaning of the letter and then gives their answer. Only one not so minor and hugely revealing problem - the "A" in IRA does not stand for "Account" as Bank of America boldy proclaims. One of the choices given...

Somebody arrest the CEO of Bank of America. The knave is forcing poor Amy Robach to use his bank's ATM machines. At least, so it would seem from Amy's statement on this morning's "Today." "Today" ran a segment this morning about the fact that BoA has raised its ATM fees for non-customers to $3. When things were kicked back to co-anchor Robach in the studio, she unloaded.View video here. AMY ROBACH: It is an outrage! Three dollars, to take out twenty or forty bucks? Co-anchor Lester Holt sympathized. LESTER HOLT: And I get it, it's for non-customers. But for example,...

Bank of America has begun quietly offering credit cards to customers in the Los Angeles are who don't have a Social Security number, The Wall Street Journal reports. Such persons are usually undocumented immigrants. The newspaper said that Bank of America, the country's second-largest bank, is offering credit cards to consumers who have had an account at the bank for three months or more, even if they do not have a credit history or Social Security number. It's the latest indication that American financial institutions are serious about doing business with the millions of undocumented immigrants who until recently have...

BARTLETT, TN- We are all paying more for postage these days, but one Bartlett woman discovered she had been charged nearly 5 trillion dollars to send a UPSP priority package. Kathy Poletti didn't have any plans to go out of town for the memorial day weekend, and says that's a good thing. Monday she received an email from her bank stating her accounts had been frozen due to illegal check card activity. "I glanced at it and thought I ought to check it out and see if I see anything unusual," said Poletti. Poletti called her bank and listened...

News Releases May 15, 2007ICE uncovers metropolitan area credit card fraud schemeTwo arrested for allegedly embezzling $6 million from major banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Wachovia NEWARK, N.J. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today announced the arrests of two men for allegedly masterminding a significant credit card fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of over $6 million to credit card lenders and banks nationwide. On May 11, special agents from ICE’s Office of Investigations in Newark, N.J., arrested Akbar Wrind, a 54-year-old resident of Bayonne, N.J., and Rafael Marte, a 47-year-old resident of Walnut Port,...

Raleigh - A coalition of over 100 anti-illegal immigration groups that are boycotting Bank of America are releasing a broader survey of banks, in order to assist consumers in relocating their money to banks that are not in the business of aiding and abetting illegal aliens! "To our knowledge, this list is the first of its kind and lists almost 500 banks that our researchers surveyed," said William Gheen of ALIPAC. "It is a work in progress and is designed to tell Americans which banks are accepting the Mexican Matricula card and which ones reject this form of ID. Only...

Bank of America continues to come under fire following its implementation last month of a pilot program critics say allows illegal aliens to obtain credit cards, a policy that has led at least one local business to sever its ties with the financial institution. Kenneth W. Davis, owner of Great Western Drilling Company, told the Reporter-Telegram in a phone conversation from his Fort Worth office his company, which maintains offices in Midland and seven other cities, no longer will do business with Bank of America. Davis' objection is based on a pilot program the company began in Los Angeles County,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. is defending its decision to offer credit cards to people who don't have U.S. Social Security numbers, amid criticism that the program effectively endorses illegal immigration. (SNIP) Meanwhile, CNN host Lou Dobbs, another illegal immigration opponent, has called the card program "outrageous," and the idea that Bank of America isn't marketing to illegal immigrants "fundamentally, absolutely and unequivocally a lie." Bank of America's Trower said it is premature to say whether the card program will expand.

Bank of America is feeling the heat as a result of the massive fallout on the part of law abidding American customers of their new illegal alien credit card program/scam. This morning, (Thursday February 22, 2007) Fox News ran a lengthy news spot citing damage control that Bank of America put out for mass consumption basically saying: "You know that Illegal Alien" credit card program/deal we've got going? Well, it ain't what it is. Who are you going to believe; us or your lying eyes." The letter was all: "We are performing a legal service and are not breaking any...

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Jose Manuel Aparicio had come up with all kinds of ways to stash his construction job wages: He slipped bills between pages of books hidden in his bedroom closet and stuffed money into an old sock in his laundry. ... Without a bank account, "somebody can steal it," said the 20-year-old, who came to the U.S. from Mexico three years ago. "That's it, my money is gone." Then three months ago, Aparicio applied for a special debit card created for immigrants who don't have Social Security numbers, which are required to open savings or checking accounts....

Not requiring documentation for credit cards is only going to encourage illegal immigrationBank of America's offering of credit cards to undocumented immigrants has drawn criticism for political and national security reasons. But it also speaks to a number of business and societal issues. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company has launched a credit card program open to people who lack a Social Security number or credit history, concentrating on 51 of its branches in Los Angeles County, which has the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the country. The program is to be expanded nationally this year, according to The Wall Street...

CRC gave the Bank of America Foundation a rating of '1' on their Ideological Rating: 1 = Radical Left (See post 1 of other corporate sponsorship to the Illegal cause)

Would you give an unsecured, five hundred dollar credit line to this man? Mohammed Yousef Mullawala is an illegal alien. While in America for quite some time illegally, Mullawala amassed a collection of addresses and drivers’ licenses, just as the 9/11 terrorists did, until he was stopped in a failed attempt to train to obtain a commercial drivers’ license (CDL) in Rhode Island. As an illegal alien, he enrolled at the Nationwide Tractor Trailer School with an intense interest in obtaining software with hazardous materials information and no interest learning how to back the 70 foot vehicle he wanted to...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A day laborer was killed Sunday morning in an area where employers frequently pick up low-wage immigrants eager to find temporary work. The attack apparently began around 7:30 a.m. as a robbery, said Oakland homicide Sgt. Dom Arotzarena. The victim, a Latino man in his 30s, may have been targeted because day laborers who get hired to move furniture, paint houses, landscape yards and cleaning buildings often get paid in cash. The victim was attacked just outside an auto repair shop and taken to Highland Hospital, where he died. Neither his identity nor immigration status is...

A coalition of groups that advocate for tighter U.S. borders has launched a boycott against Bank of America Corp. because of a new credit card that could be used by illegal immigrants. The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition is asking people to close their accounts and sign an online petition at www.bankofamericaboycott.com. Organizer William Gheen, president of Raleigh-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, also argues bank officials should face federal charges for "aiding and abetting" illegal immigrants.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has called for the House Financial Services Committee to investigate Bank of America's practice of extending credit through secured credit cards sometimes used by undocumented workers. "As a member of the Financial Services committee, I believe that thorough Congressional oversight is necessary to address this legal loophole, which allows banks to issue credit cards to those who are in this country illegally," Blackburn said in a statement Friday. "We must protect our country and financial institutions from the security, financial, and terrorist risks this poses," Blackburn said. The call for an investigation followed...

"Clearly, Bank of America established this program for the purpose of aiding and abetting illegal aliens - and they do not dispute this fact," said Tancredo..."I hope the administration will shut down this reckless and illegal program before Bank of America extrends a line of credit to a potential terrorist."

With all of the recent news about Bank of America giving credit cards to illegal immigration I thought it would be good to point out that Wells Fargo has been guilty of this and WORSE for many years now. As a former Wells Fargo employee, I can attest to the bank's overzealous commitment to diversity. Including pandering to illegal aliens. Michelle Malkin even wrote about this back in 2001!

Bank of America found itself at the center of the nation's immigration controversy following reports it's offering credit cards to illegal immigrants in Los Angeles. In the wake of the media firestorm, the nation's second-largest and Tampa Bay's largest bank, told the Los Angeles Times it complies fully with all banking and antiterrorism laws governing customer identification, which permit the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Critics say that it's too easy for undocumented immigrants to receive ITINs. "At face value the program seems to be problematic," Russ Knocke, a spokesman for...

GOP Lawmakers Peeved at New Bank of America Credit Card Program Wednesday, February 14, 2007 WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are lashing out at Bank of America Corp. over its new program to offer credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, saying it creates a dangerous loophole for terrorists and illegal immigrants. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., called for a federal investigation of the program on Wednesday, sending Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff a letter requesting a review of the program. "After September 11, we were told that money was the lifeblood of terrorists, and that we...

Here's the poll: Do you support Bank of America's decision to offer credit cards to illegal immigrants (as was reported by the Wall Street Journal)? Yes 21% No 80% 24061 Votes to date http://finance.yahoo.com/?u

No Social Security number? No credit history? Illegal? NO PROBLEM! COME ON IN! Last week Bank of America expanded its program to 51 Los Angeles branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the United States. The bank plans to roll out the program nationally later this year.

Bank of America Corp., Tampa Bay's largest bank, has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, a group that typically includes illegal immigrants. According to The Wall Street Journal, the BofA card is open to individuals without a Social Security number or a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft. Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles. Last week, BofA expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, the newspaper says. The bank hopes to...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards. The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held...

Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to undocumented customers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, according to the Wall Street Journal. The only requirement to get a card with the new program is to have had a BofA checking account for three months without an overdraft – those without a Social Security number or a credit history are still eligible. BofA executives said the program aims to tap into the growing market of illegal immigrants, which is largely Hispanic, and has not violated any U.S. banking or antiterrorism laws. Cards are already being offered at 51 branches...

In the latest sign of the U.S. banking industry's aggressive pursuit of the Hispanic market, Bank of America Corp. has quietly begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers -- typically illegal immigrants. In recent years, banks across the country have begun offering checking accounts and, in some cases, mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic... The new Bank of America program is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Gov. Janet Napolitano Wednesday deflected continued criticism of the new state 9-11 memorial, which some say is anti-American. Napolitano said criticism and questions regarding the privately funded memorial should be directed to the commission appointed by her and former Gov. Jane Hull to oversee the project. Napolitano is a Democrat, Hull a Republican. The memorial was funded via private sector contributions including donations from The Arizona Republic, Bashas' Supermarkets, Bank of America and SleepAmerica. Republican gubernatorial challenger Len Munsil and other conservatives have blasted the monument saying some of the inscriptions are anti-American and critical of U.S. counterattacks against terrorist...

Liberal blogger David R. Mark recently wrote, “Those that call themselves ‘compassionate conservatives’ would never think to touch their fat-cat supporters. It’s much easier to spin the ‘economic benefits’ of helping huge corporations fatten their bottom lines.� Liberal academic Thomas Frank, in his book What’s The Matter With Kansas?, claims that the corporate world “wields the Republican Party as its personal political sidearm.� Both Mark and Frank express a common view that corporations are major funders of the political right, and that when corporations make contributions to nonprofit advocacy groups they give to groups on the right because those groups...

Learning to become the bank of (insert town)http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/15050013.htm http://tinyurl.com/kbzpr Bank of America's donation policy reveals a national bank trying to adapt to the many regions it serves BINYAMIN APPELBAUM bappelbaum@charlotteobserver.com Posted on Sun, Jul. 16, 2006 The letter from Charlotte reached Valdosta, Ga., in mid-April. The Alapaha Boy Scout council had requested a $1,000 donation from Bank of America Corp. The answer was no. The letter said the bank had a new policy barring donations to groups that discriminate. The Boy Scouts of America has a long-standing policy barring participation by homosexuals. Other councils, including the Mecklenburg County Scouts, also...

SAN ANTONIO (Army News Service, June 1, 2006) Bank of America is donating $1 million to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to help finance a 60,000 square foot rehabilitation center for servicemembers critically wounded in war. The San Antonio, Texas, center is scheduled to open January 2007, and will offer treatment to servicemembers suffering such injuries multiple amputations, severe burns, and spinal and brain injuries. Physicians will also help patients adapt to their new disabilities through therapy and advanced training. “The Soldiers sacrifice so much and they put themselves in harm’s way every day, so we owe them,” said Scott...

Scouts denied funding http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/homepage/local_story_138230721.html http://tinyurl.com/n2l7h Published: May 18, 2006 11:07 pm Kelli Hernandez VALDOSTA — Decades of continued financial support to the Boy Scouts stopped after the Bank of America Charitable Foundation denied their request for funding this year, according to a letter written by Michael Harp, Market President for Bank of America. The letter, addressed to Scout Executive Matt Hart, with the Alapaha Area Council Boy Scouts of America, outlined the Bank’s newly adopted non-discriminatory policy for charitable giving. According to the letter, “under the non-discrimination policy, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation cannot provide funding to any organization...

Bank of America considers 'sexual orientation' Shareholder resolution says issue should be private matter Should banks and other businesses consider matters like the "sexual orientation" of their employees? Bank of America shareholders will take up the issue today at an annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C. The bank is one of the world's largest financial institutions with over 38 million customers in over 150 countries worldwide. The proxy issue, otherwise known as item No. 7 on the bank's shareholder's proxy list, requires management to "amend its written equal opportunity policy to explicitly exclude reference to sexual orientation." The initiative further states...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In one of MBNA's first marketing blitzes as part of Bank of America Corp., the company said Tuesday it will start offering credit cards tied to Olivia, a San Francisco travel company that caters primarily to the lesbian community. The Olivia-branded cards, which will allow holders to earn points for items such as airline tickets and hotel reservations, join the legion of so-called affinity cards offered by MBNA. The credit card company also offers cards tied to everything from National Football League teams to retailers such as L.L. Bean and Bass Pro Shops. "We are a leading...

Some readers might think that Eliot Spitzer's decision this week to drop his attempt to retry former Bank of America broker Ted Sihpol for after hours mutual-fund trading is an act of prosecutorial compassion.... Mr. Spitzer is belatedly cutting his losses. Mr. Sihpol, remember, played a bit role in the "late trading" case surrounding hedge fund Canary Capital. A jury in June repudiated Mr. Spitzer's case by clearing Mr. Sihpol of 29 of 33 criminal counts, with just one juror holding out for a mistrial on the remaining four. Mr. Spitzer vowed to re-fight those counts -- that is, until...