Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis on Wednesday defended the company’s recent acquisition of Countrywide Financial and expressed optimism the housing market would recover from its stubborn slump.
Lewis, speaking at a Los Angeles Town Hall meeting titled “Mending the Mortgage Market,” maintained Countrywide’s franchise and big customer base positioned BofA strongly when the housing market [...]

Faced with record-high foreclosure rates, the Bush administration has been scrambling to keep people from losing their homes, but many are beyond help, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today.
“There is little public policy-makers can, or should, do to compensate for untenable financial decisions,” Paulson told a forum on mortgage lending to low and medium-income [...]

With foreclosures continuing to rise, Bellevue-based DepotPoint has scored $7 million to roll out new online services that help real estate professionals better manage distressed properties.
The deal was led by OVP Venture Partners, with Trident Capital also participating.
“DepotPoint’s tools will significantly streamline the foreclosure process for banks and mortgage servicers,” said OVP’s Mark Ashida in [...]