How bad were those Countrywide loans?

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Worth noting from today’s Wall Street Journal, an article gives a glimpse at just how bad the underwriting at Countrywide was in the company’s final years as an independent company:

New information about Countrywide loans in an amended complaint brought by the state of California against Countrywide ‘... provide(s) a close look at the 158,000 mortgages that had been slated for sale by Countrywide Home Loans before last summer’s credit crunch,’ the Journal reports. ‘Nearly 48% of non-prime loans and 21% of pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages in that portfolio were in some stage of delinquency or foreclosure...’

A spokesman for Bank of America, which now owns Countrywide, tells the Journal 9.53% of all loans owned by Countrywide were 30 days or more past due as of the end of April.

-- Peter Viles
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