Bank of America pays $3 billion to settle on 12,000 mortgages

These are interesting numbers since everyone knows that between BofA and Countrywide (now owned by BofA) there were many more than 12,000 bad mortgages. As much as many are trying to put this mortgage scam problem in the past, this should confirm that there's much more remaining to be addressed. It's still hard to drill down to the culprits in this national (and international) scam because too many in Washington have too much skin in the game. The GOP is now the party of Wall Street after years of Democratic rule in that arena. The problem remains deeply embedded in the political system so it's difficult to imagine many tough questions being asked. Meanwhile we are likely to see more settlements and then hope that it will all magically disappear. Either that or that fewer and fewer questions will be asked as the public moves on to the next event.

Shares in Bank of America climbed 4 percent in pre-market trading. Investors were worried that the bank, like other large mortgage sellers, may have to buy back billions in mortgages it sold with faulty paperwork and other problems.

The bank made a $1.28 billion cash payment to Freddie Mac, as part of the agreement to end all claims related to mortgages sold by Countrywide, a mortgage company bought by Bank of America, through 2008.

The bank paid Fannie Mae $1.34 billion in a similar agreement that settles claims on 12,045 Countrywide loans.