CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America Corp. may settle a state and federal probe of foreclosure practices in a deal that lets New York proceed with an inquiry into securitizations, said two people with direct knowledge of the talks.
American Banker, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal, reported the firm may pursue an accord with most of the 50 state attorneys general, even if it omits New York’s Eric Schneiderman and at least two other states who are opposed because a deal would impede related inquiries, said one of the people. Negotiations on a broad settlement stalled after Schneiderman indicated he wouldn’t let it block his probe into the bundling and sale of mortgages, said the people, who declined to be identified because talks are private.
Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, seeking to reverse a 44% stock slide this year, has booked about $30 billion in settlements and writedowns to clean up mortgage liabilities at the biggest U.S. bank since the start of 2010. One of the largest legal matters still pending is the multi- state probe into whether firms servicing mortgages used bogus documents to justify foreclosures.
