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Little shock, no awe in BofA email dump

By
Colin Barr
Colin Barr
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By
Colin Barr
Colin Barr
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 14, 2011, 2:44 PM ET

So much for Black Monday.

Bank of America (BAC) shares dropped less than 1% Monday after a heavily hyped document dump turned up few documents and a lot of chin music.



So much for that

The emails released Monday morning at bankofamericasuck.com supposedly show employees at an insurance unit of BofA’s Countrywide tried to hide foreclosure data from the government, by stripping some documents of identifying numbers. Bank of America told Reuters the documents were stolen from the insurance unit, known as Balboa.

Wherever they came from, the emails posted will hardly shock anyone familiar with the banks’ antics during the foreclosure crisis. Even the marauding email posters seem uncertain as to what they are really “exposing” here.

For all the talk of “fraud and corruption,” what the hackers seem most upset by is the observation that forced-place insurance – the kind banks sign up for when a homeowner lets his own policy lapse, for instance — isn’t a good deal for consumers, surprise surprise. Thus this comment from the anonymous source of the supposed Balboa documents:

In fact, we probably charged you money…a lot of money…for insurance you didn’t even need.

Talk about defining scandal down.

Also on Fortune.com:

  • BofA’s highest paid: Mozilo
  • BofA gets serious on foreclosures
  • Moynihan’s free pass on pay

Hugely, you can follow me on Twitter on @colincbarr.

About the Author
By Colin Barr
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