In every common-sense, everyday way, a corporation is not a person. Corporations don’t date, don’t have families, don’t go catch a movie on Friday night. They also don’t go to jail when they do something criminal. But in the eyes of the law, corporations enjoy many of the same rights — including free speech and religious expression — and protections afforded to individuals. [More]
bank of america
Bank Of America Doesn’t Want To Pay $1.27B For Countrywide’s “Hustle” Mortgage Scam
By 8.29.14
Between settlements, fines, legal fees, and loan reductions, Bank of America’s tab for its part in the mortgage meltdown is well over $50 billion, including last week’s record-setting $16.65 billion deal. And yet BofA is still trying to fight a nearly year-old jury verdict involving a scam by Countrywide Financial that sold off oodles of worthless home loans before the housing bubble collapsed. [More]
DOJ Finally Confirms Record-Setting $16.65B Settlement With Bank Of America
By 8.21.14
More than two weeks after it was first reported that the Justice Dept. and Bank of America were coming to terms on a record-setting deal worth nearly $17 billion, the two parties have finally confirmed the details of a settlement that will resolve multiple federal and state claims involving the bank’s bad behavior in the lead-up to the collapse of the housing market. [More]
Bank Of America Settlement Could Be Worth As Much As $17 Billion
By 8.6.14
Earlier this summer, when it looked like Bank of America and the Justice Dept. were reported to be on the brink of a settlement that would close the books on multiple cases involving the bank’s mishandling of toxic home loans in the run-up to the collapse of the housing market, it looked like BofA would be on the hook for around $12 billion. But now comes news that the deal could hit the bank for anywhere from $16-17 billion. [More]
Bank Of America Finally Ordered To Pay $1.27B For Countrywide’s “Hustle”
By 7.31.14
It’s been about nine months since a federal jury found Bank of America liable for the “Hustle,” a pre-bubble Countrywide Financial program that removed safeguards to the mortgage underwriting process, resulting in a mountain of toxic, worthless loans. Yesterday, the judge in the case finally decided how much BofA — and the former Countrywide exec in charge of the program — should pay. [More]
Bank Of America To Pay $16.6M To Settle Allegations Of Processing Drug Traffickers’ Transactions
By 7.24.14
Processing transactions for drug traffickers is a big no-no, which is why Bank of America has agreed to pay $16.6 million to resolve federal allegations that it was involved in moving money around for ten traffickers over the course of four years.
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Remember: You’re Probably Only Opted Out Of Bank Junk Mail For A Few Years
By 7.22.14
Have you ever cut ties with a friend or loved one, thinking you’d never want to see them again? Have you later had second thoughts about taking the axe (metaphorically) to that relationship and wished you could rebuild what you once had? When it comes to banks, many of them just assume that people who opted out of junk mail are just sitting at home regretting that they ever stopped asking for their mailboxes to once again be filled with credit card, mortgage, and savings account solicitations. [More]
Justice Dept. Letting Bank Of America Squirm While CEO Asks For Mortgage-Related Settlement
By 6.20.14
Bank of America has reportedly been working out a settlement deal with the Department of Justice over its mortgage-related misdeeds. Last week, the arrangement was for a rumored $12 billion at least. But the negotiations stalled out, and the two parties haven’t talked in a week or more. Apparently, the bank is blinking first, and trying to get the Attorney General back to the table. [More]
Bank Of America Agrees To Scan For Illegal Payday Lenders In NY
By 6.16.14
Payday lending is illegal in more than a dozen states, including New York, but some lenders manage to fly under the radar by operating online or hiding their loans as part of another business. In an effort to crackdown on loans that violate state laws, New York has created a database for banks to use to help identify sketchy lenders, and Bank of America — no stranger to the issue of questionable loans — is the first to sign on. [More]
Bank Of America May Pay At Least Another $12 Billion For Mortgage-Related Hijinks
By 6.6.14
Bank of America has already agreed to mortgage meltdown-related settlements totaling more than $50 billion, so what’s another dozen or so billion dollars heaped on top of that pile? That’s the latest figure being thrown about in the seemingly never-ending series of complaints and settlements tied to the bank’s bad behavior in the home loan business. [More]
Which Credit Cards Have The Most Restrictions On Rewards?
By 5.1.14
While many banks have nixed rewards programs for debit cards, credit card issuers still push these extras — things like cash-back, airline miles, and points that can be redeemed for purchases — as a way to attract new customers and retain existing cardholders. But when it comes time to earn or use those rewards, some cards are more friendly than others. [More]
Bank Of America Could End Investigations Into Its Troubled Mortgage Investments For $20B
By 4.25.14
There’s another new chapter being written in the ongoing saga known as the financial crisis. The Justice Department is aiming to make a deal, in the area of $20 billion, with Bank of America for the company’s part in selling troubled mortgage investments. But resolution doesn’t look to be happening anytime soon. [More]
Bank Of America Ordered To Repay Consumers $727M For Sketchy Marketing Practices
By 4.9.14
Bank of America just received a hefty bill from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to repay $727 million to consumers wronged by the bank’s deceptive marketing practices regarding credit card add-on products. [More]
Bank Of America May Pay $800 Million For Questionable Credit Card Add-Ons
By 4.4.14
There’s another big legal bill on the horizon for Bank of America, as reports indicate the bank may soon agree to pay $800 million to settle allegations tied to sketchy add-on services for credit card customers. [More]
Comcast Cruises Past Verizon, Walmart Upsets Bank Of America In Worst Company Quarterfinal Action!
April 2, 2014
Worst Company In America Quarterfinal action kicked off this morning with a doozy of a double-header, one resulting in one of the tournament’s most decisive victories and the other going down to the wire in this year’s latest buzzer-beater bout. [More]
Time Warner Cable Ekes Out Another Win, To Face Monsanto In Worst Company Quarterfinals!
April 1, 2014
Two weeks ago, 32 bad businesses entered the Worst Company in America velodrome. But since they didn’t all bring their racing bikes with them, they just began beating the holy snot out of each other for our readers’ amusement. Giants fell, upstarts pulled upsets, and battle-hardened vets relived their glory days when they could more easily lay claim to the Golden Poo. Now, after two rounds of out-and-out, completely organized mayhem, eight contenders still stand, but to quote the greatest movie ever made in the history of films with the word “highlander” in the title: There can be only one. [More]
Latest Worst Company Voting Results Confirm: People Hate Banks
March 27, 2014
After a brief breather, it was back to pummeling the living heck out each other for the remaining contenders in this year’s Worst Company In America tournament. And even though the nation’s largest airline and biggest fast food chain looked like they might have had what it takes to challenge for the Golden Poo, one has to always remember an ages-old truth: People just plain hate banks. [More]
Former BofA CEO To Pay $10 Million, Is Barred From Being An Exec For 3 Years
By 3.26.14
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, the acquisition-happy buffoon who thought it would be a grand idea to buy Countrywide without doing any due diligence on all those worthless loans written by the failing company. And it will be another few years before he’s allowed to climb back to the top of the corporate ladder, as he’s agreed to a 3-year ban from serving as an officer or director of any public company. [More]
