Judge Clears Way for Countrywide Subpoenas

A federal judge in Pittsburgh has ruled that a bankruptcy trustee can subpoena loan documents from Countrywide Financial Corp. and interview company executives under oath as part of a civil case involving the nation's largest residential servicer. Judge Thomas Agresti is overseeing a months-old case in which 293 Pennsylvania homeowners sued Countrywide, charging that the servicer sought improper fees and payments from distressed borrowers that violated bankruptcy regulations. In a Tuesday ruling, the judge said it has not been proven that Countrywide did anything wrong but that a bankruptcy trustee involved in the case "has made a showing of a common thread of potential wrongdoing" in several instances where it moved to foreclosure on bankrupt homeowners. At deadline time, a Countrywide spokesman had not returned a telephone call about the matter. Countrywide's foreclosure practices are under investigation in Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. The company is being sold to Bank of America. The sale is expected to close by the third quarter. Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.