Bank of America, the second largest bank in the United States rewarded employees with bonuses and gift cards for achieving foreclosure quotas, according to statements in court by former employees of the bank. Employees in the mortgage department committed forgery and were asked by management to delay requests for assistance from customers, requesting documents that the bank had already received, according to the statements of former employees of Bank of America filed last week in the Boston federal court.
Bank wrongly rejected requests for a modification of loan contracts under Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), said Simone Gordon, a specialist in loss-mitigation that left the Bank of America in 2012.
“We were regularly drilled that it was our job to maximize fees for the bank by fostering and extending delay of the HAMP modification process by any means we could.” Managers told staff to “delay modifications by telling homeowners who called in that their documents were ‘under review,’ when in fact, there had been no review,” said Gordon.
Bank of America, which has spent more than 45 billion dollars to settle a dispute relating to the acquisition in 2008 of Countrywide Financial, was sued by homeowners who didn’t benefit from the mortgage modification program, after making payments in a pilot program, according to the court documents.
“At best, these attorneys are painting a false picture of the bank’s practices and the dedication of our employees,” Simon added. “While we will address the declarations in more depth when we file our opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion next month, suffice it to say that each of the declarations is rife with factual inaccuracies.”
Gordon, who worked at Bank of America for more than 10 years, said that loan collectors received gift receipts from retailers such as Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. They were also given a $500 cash bonus if they put more than 10 customers into foreclosure.
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