Schumer Blasts Countrywide

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on Countrywide Financial Corp. to stop steering customers into high-cost mortgages and to help its troubled subprime borrowers by waiving prepayment penalties and refinancing them into more affordable loans."I am calling on Countrywide -- as the nation's largest lender --- to bury its bad business practices and reverse some of the damage it has already inflicted on our housing market," the Senate Banking Committee member said. The New York senator referred to abusive lending practices reported in a New York Times article, which Countrywide says "contained numerous inaccuracies and 'facts' taken out of context." The Calabasas, Calif.-based lender said its business processes prohibit steering and that it does not pay its loan officers higher commissions for making subprime loans with prepayment penalties. The Office of Thrift Supervision has initiated a review of Countrywide's lending and servicing practices based on complaints by Countrywide borrowers that the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America brought to the regulator's attention. Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.