The Senate signaled overwhelming support for a foreclosure rescue bill despite a presidential veto threat and concerns that it could benefit the very lenders responsible for the expanding national crisis.Republican opponents of the bill sought to return the bill to the Banking Committee to clarify whether Countrywide Financial Services, or any other lender, was gaining [...]

Countrywide, as one of the largest wholesale mortgage lenders pushing sub-prime loans, was sued for alleged deceptive mortgage practices by officials in its home state of California and in Illinois on Wednesday.
Marking the end of an era, shareholders the same day approved the company’s takeover by Bank of America  at a private meeting conducted by [...]

Presented with public records Wednesday, Cantwell spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton said that Cantwell originally obtained the mortgage on her Edmonds, Wash., home from U.S. Bank but that U.S. Bank subsequently sold the loan to Countrywide.
It’s a common practice for mortgages to be sold after they’re originated, and the transfer often happens without any involvement by the [...]