BofA Merger Deal Spurs Questions

Charlotte Observer (NC) (03/05/08); Rothacker, Rick
The Greenlining Institute contends that Bank of America Corp.'s takeover of Countrywide Financial Corp. should be delayed until the North Carolina-based bank can provide more details of its plans for heading off California's growing foreclosure crisis. The California-based community group has petitioned the Federal Reserve to hold hearings on the $4 billion acquisition in Los Angeles and Sacramento, two of the Golden State's hardest-hit housing markets. In a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Institute officials wrote: "Public hearings are more essential in this case than in any other case ever before the Federal Reserve, given the foreclosure crisis and [Bank of America's] market dominance." In its recently filed annual report, Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide confirmed that roughly 7 percent of the loans on which it collects payments were at least 30 days delinquent as of the end of last year--an increase from 5 percent a year earlier.