Banks, Real Estate | featured news

Bank of America is reportedly willing to pay its way out of future mortgage and foreclosure claims.

Financial firms trying to negotiate a settlement with states and the U.S. over the foreclosure mess are squabbling over who is most accountable, threatening a further delay in talks that already have dragged on.

Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co have started modifying tens of thousands of mortgages where the banks deem the loans especially risky, even if the borrowers have not asked, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co has pushed out its head of home lending, David Lowman, who was sidelined in February after the bank racked up billions of dollars in losses on soured mortgages and became mired in litigation over a wave of foreclosures.

U.S. bank regulators said they will give 14 financial institutions an additional 30 days to submit plans to fix problems with their home-foreclosure practices, allowing more time to complete a broader settlement with state and federal agencies.

The nation's largest mortgage companies are operating on the assumption that they will have to pay as much as $20 billion to resolve claims of widespread foreclosure abuse, an amount four times what they had originally proposed, the top federal official overseeing the discussions told state officials Monday, according to people who participated in the conversation.

The nation’s biggest banks and mortgage lenders have amassed a glut of foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump.

Bank of America Corp is working to improve profits by reducing its number of problem mortgages and cutting other costs, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan told shareholders on Wednesday. Moynihan, speaking at the company's annual meeting in downtown Charlotte, said the mortgage business of the largest U.S. bank by assets is "still struggling mightily" as it slowly crawls out from under the billions in soured home loans.

Bank regulators announced settlements on Wednesday with the largest home lenders over allegations of shoddy foreclosure practices, but the pacts did not include financial penalties.

Bank of America reported Friday that it had a $1.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter of last year, including a previously announced charge of $2 billion reflecting a decline in the value of its home loans and insurance business.