Judge Rejects Countrywide Plan to Settle Suit

NEW YORK -- A bankruptcy judge has rejected Countrywide Financial Corp.'s proposal to settle accusations that it fabricated evidence used in a bid to foreclose on a home, saying he wants to know more about the alleged false documents, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Judge Thomas Agresti of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on Tuesday dismissed the company's request to settle a dispute with Sharon Diane Hill, a Pittsburgh-area woman who was threatened with foreclosure by the country's largest home lender, the paper reported.

Hill was up to date on her payments, but Countrywide threatened to take her home if she didn't pay thousands more in fees, the paper reported citing court documents. It later backed off and offered to pay her lawyers. But Hill said her credit was permanently marred by the foreclosure attempt, the paper reported.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 5/8/08