Bye-bye Countrywide

For some reason the Countrywide brand doesn't have quite the place in America's heart that it used to. Since Bank of America bought the beleaguered mortgage giant in January 2008, consumer surveys have shown public opinion go from good to bad to worse. So today B of A jettisons the Countrywide brand. We are all Bank of America Home Loans now.

B of A is taking the moment to throw a handful of consumer-friendly home-loan initiatives at the wall. For instance, when you go to get a B of A mortgage you will now get a one-page summary document that tells you, among other things, how high your monthly mortgage payments might get. A sample, for a 5-year ARM:

Your total monthly payment for the first 5 years is estimated to be $ 1,374.00. Your monthly payment is made up of $ 1,074.00 in principal and interest and $ 300.00 estimated escrow charges.  Escrow charges are collected to cover your property taxes, insurance costs and, if applicable, mortgage insurance and homeowners association assessments, and will change as your taxes and these other costs change.

At year 6 your interest rate could increase by up to 5 percentage point(s).  This means your interest rate could potentially increase to 10 %, making your monthly payment $ 1,669.00 for principal and interest plus the $ 300.00 in estimated escrow charges, which will likely be higher at that time.

B of A had considered putting out this sort of plain-English summary before... yeah, that might have come in handy. Better late than never, I suppose.

Barbara!