Bank of America Corp. said former workers who alleged the firm awarded bonuses for sending homeowners into foreclosure misrepresented their roles and made "impossible" claims about the lender's assistance program.
The ex-
employees, whose sworn statements were filed last month in a lawsuit against the bank, had limited roles that didn't allow them to understand the full scope of assistance efforts, the
Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said today in documents in federal court in Boston.
"The declarants' wild misrepresentations about their roles lead to impossible claims about what they did and saw," Bank of America said. They "could not have witnessed what they claim to have witnessed because they were not in a position to do so and would not have witnessed such things in any event because Bank of America's actual practices were diametrically opposite."
The bank, seeking to block plaintiffs' efforts to attain class-action status, also said six of the seven former workers were fired for inappropriate behavior.
Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, is being sued by homeowners who claim the company didn't comply with the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. The borrowers said in court filings last month that the bank instructed employees to stall mortgage-modification applications, lie to customers and falsify documents.
Loan collectors were given $500 bonuses and gift cards to retailers including Target Corp. and Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. for putting customers into foreclosure, one of the ex-employees said. In sworn statements filed today by the bank, supervisors of those workers said that they didn't give incentives for improper behavior and that the bank made good-faith efforts to help distressed borrowers.
Steve Berman and
Gary Klein, attorneys for the homeowners, didn't immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment about the bank's filing.
The case is In Re Bank of America Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) Contract Litigation, 10-md-02193, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
To contact the reporters on this story: Hugh Son in
New York at
hson1@bloomberg.net;
David McLaughlin in New York at
dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Christine Harper at
charper@bloomberg.net; David Scheer at
dscheer@bloomberg.net;
Andrew Dunn at
adunn8@bloomberg.net
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BofA Says Ex-Workers Made 'Impossible' Loan-Program Claims
Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, is being sued by homeowners who claim the company didn't comply with the government's Home Affordable Modification Program.
Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, is being sued by homeowners who claim the company didn't comply with the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. Photographer: Davis Turner/Bloomberg
