This report is part of CRL's continuing Countrywide Watch project, which is dedicated to tracking Countrywide's conduct and efforts to reform the company. Analysis of customer complaints, lawsuits, regulatory actions, news accounts, government reports and company documents identifies several areas of concern, including predatory lending, the marketing of dangerous products, loan servicing abuses and weak corporate governance.
The Center for Responsible Lending believes Bank of America's planned acquisition of Countrywide is a positive development offering hope that Countrywide's practices can be cleaned up and that homeowners who have been harmed by the company can get bad loans modified.