Bank Of America Foreclosure Mess Still Far From Over

About a month has passed since Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) had initially announced its foreclosure review across the country that would "give customers confidence that they were being treated fairly." There is no doubt that this matter will take time and will be quite costly in order to ensure fair treatment and compliance. The bank has said it is reviewing its procedures as well as each individual case. There is still a fair amount of information that Bank of America has yet to disclose such as the changes it has made to the process, how many files have actually been reviewed, how many mistakes were found, as well as the expected completion time of the process. We are still unsure that all of the foreclosures have been in compliance with the law as well. Bank of America Home Loans spokesman Rick Simon said "that assertion is based on a review of financial details, such as borrowers' indebtedness and payment histories. Bank of America emphasizes that borrowers who are current on their loans aren't getting thrown out on their ear: By its count a third of foreclosed properties sold in the third quarter were vacant, and their owners were on average behind on payments by 18 months." Rebel Cole, a law professor at DePaul University said the banks lack the required paperwork to proceed with foreclosures in many cases. They can restore documentation that has been lost or destroyed, but doing so isn't cheap, potentially running into the tens of thousands of dollars for a single home that may in some instances not be worth much more than that. He adds that the banks are trying to overcome the problem, but there is no easy way out when following the law. On Oct. 18, Bank of America said in a statement that it anticipated that "the first foreclosure affidavits will be resubmitted to the courts" by Oct. 25. More recently, though, it said it is "preparing to submit affidavits" in a process that "will take several weeks."Read the full article here