Oh boy....  I just ran across a doozy of an article that's DEFINITELY made my list of loony real estate news!  According to the NY Times, the lender has admitted to "recreating" letters to a Pennsylvania homeowner involved in a bankruptcy case.

    What exactly does that mean?  Well it means that Countrywide submitted letters to the court as evidence that they had notified the owner about some extra charges she owed after she was deemed to be current on her mortgage.... over $4,000 in extra charges and late fees.  She claims she was never notified and that this should have been mentioned prior to the bankruptcy being dismissed.

    Countrywide handed over letters they claim they sent to the bankruptcy judge.  Her lawyer's address was incorrect though.  It seems he recently moved, and the address on the letters was the new one, not the address he was at when the letters would have been sent out.  Oops....

    So Countrywide has some serious egg on their face, and they admit that the letters were "recreations" submitted as examples, not copies of the original letters.

    Whose fault is it?  That's for the court to figure out, but this is yet another blow to Countrywide's already tattered reputation.  The LA Times reports that they(Countrywide) are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and their stock has plummeted as a result.  The lender claims that they are not at risk of bankruptcy right now, so it looks to be a game of "wait and see" for right now.

    Anyone out there have any further insight on this one?  If people were to do something like this they'd be risking serious jail time.  By what measure is Countrywide going to be held accountable?

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate Website
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