Post by 2020 on Apr 15, 2012 8:48:58 GMT 10
Here’s another example of the jumbled mess we once called a housing and mortgage market: Charlotte-based Bank of America has sued Charlotte-based Bank of America in a foreclosure case. Multiple times.
Online newspaper The Huffington Post reported this item Tuesday. It points to a dozen cases in Florida where BofA acting as the owner of one mortgage and the servicer of a second loan on the same property has sued itself.
An excerpt:
Bank of America is seeking to foreclose on a condominium and names the condo owner and Bank of America as defendants in the suit. The company is literally seeking damages from itself in order to foreclose on the condo owner.
“We are servicing the first mortgage on behalf of an investor and we own the second mortgage,” Bank of America spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens told HuffPost. “Naming the second-lien holder in the suit is necessary to eliminate the junior interest,” Bauwens said.
Some experts say this shows how deep the so-called “robo” foreclosure problems go. Employees are so deep in paperwork that they don’t even notice these issues before sending the cases to court.
But it’s not just BofA. Other banks, including Wells Fargo, are in the same circumstances. There are some cases where it’s completely legitimate for the same company to be on both sides of a legal action. It’s one of the side effects of being that big.
BofA earlier this year lost its distinction as the nation’s largest mortgage servicer. For reasons like this, it probably doesn’t mind.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is the largest bank in Northeast Florida, with 37 local branches and $22 billion in area deposits for a market share of 47 percent.
www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2012/04/11/bank-of-america-sues-itself.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article