Countrywide slammed in NYTimes

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Good morning again. If you work in the executive suite at Countrywide Financial, or in public relations, your three least favorite words this morning are probably these: ‘By Gretchen Morgenson.’ That is because Morgenson, a hard-hitting, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times, is again taking Countrywide to the woodshed in the Sunday paper.

Countrywide has recently been touting its extensive efforts to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. Morgenson’s story says those claims are highly dubious. Highlights:

--’... borrower advocates who work with a broad array of lenders say that none make it harder to modify loans than Countrywide.’
--Countrywide’s foreclosure prevention team is hard to reach and often hostile to borrowers, who are often charged unexplained fees during the foreclosure process.
--While touting its efforts to help borrowers in the media, Countrywide recently told investors that it rarely provides workouts that reduce interest rates -- the exact relief that many borrowers are seeking.

Countrywide, Morgenson reports, ‘strongly disagrees. Last week, it described its efforts on behalf of troubled homeowners. ‘Our No. 1 priority is to help borrowers stay in their homes,’ said Steve Bailey, a Countrywide executive, in a news release.’

Joining Countrywide in strong disagreement is Calculated Risk, which cites chapter and verse of what it considers Morgenson’s ‘terrible reporting’ on this story. Example: Morgenson points out that, for Countrywide, foreclosure is a ‘profit opportunity’; CR’s response: So what? CR argues that, for a loan servicer, every loan is a profit opportunity; otherwise, what’s the point of being in the business of servicing loans?

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Hat tip: Sunsetbeachguy