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favor of its own balance." He added, "In a rush to feed at the trough of easy mortgage money on the eve of the financial crisis, Bank of America purchased Countrywide, thinking it had gobbled up a cash cow. That profit, however, was built on fraud." The case was decided nearly a year to the day after the U.S. Department of Justice filed its complaint, alleging Countrywide used the Hustle program to unload poorly underwritten mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to the tune of $848.2 million in gross losses for the GSEs, according to court documents. Mairone was added as a co-defendant in January because in her position, she was responsible for managing the High Speed Swim Lane program, or Hustle. For five years, though, state and federal officials have neglected to go after subprime kingpin and Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, who despite his track record has escaped any and all repercussions related to his mortgage dealings and been subject only to a fine for insider trading—of which he only had to pay two-thirds. Instead, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara zeroed in on a mortgage exec who's still visible in the marketplace and whose tenure with Countrywide was shortlived and low-profile. Mairone, who is now a home lending executive with JPMorgan Chase, became part of the Bank of America team when it acquired Countrywide in 2008, and she's spent the better part of her career laboring to keep financially distressed borrowers in their homes. For nearly two years, she was BofA's national default servicing executive, overseeing loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention efforts for hundreds of thousands of distressed homeowners. In 2011, Mairone was named Bank of America's national mortgage outreach executive. Under her supervision, the company doubled its outreach staff, opened dozens of regional customer assistance centers in hard-hit markets, and hosted and participated in hundreds of local home preservation workshops with Mairone herself traveling from city to city to ensure homeowners attending the events got the assistance they needed. A court date of December 5 was set to begin the penalty phase of the case. Ultimately, the decision of how much BofA and Mairone will be fined is in the hands of U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, a court official well-known for his tough stance against banks and the financial services industry. 88 JPMorgan-Led Effort to Employ Military Veterans Nears Goal A private-sector initiative launched by JPMorgan Chase in early 2011, the 100,000 Jobs Mission, is less than 8,000 positions from its goal. Member companies have collectively hired 92,869 U.S. military veterans through the third quarter of 2013, the organization recently reported. JPMorgan Chase was joined by 10 other companies in initially launching the program. Since then, the coalition has grown to 121 companies that represent almost every sector of the U.S. economy. Cooperatively, the firm's participating in the initiative are working toward a goal of hiring at least 100,000 veterans by the year 2020. "Our coalition has made great progress," said Maureen Casey, director of military and veterans affairs at JPMorgan Chase. "But the 100,000 Jobs Mission is much more than a number. We are committed to positioning veterans for long-term success and sharing best practices." Participating companies did just that at the group's quarterly meeting last month hosted by Lockheed Martin in Arlington, Virginia. The meeting focused on bridging the knowledge gap between civilian and military cultures and breaking down barriers to employment. Company representatives also divided into working groups that focused on several important topics including talent sharing among 100,000 Jobs Mission members through its Veteran Talent Exchange, hiring military spouses and launching business resource groups. "By working together and sharing best practices, the 100,000 Jobs Mission companies are deepening the level of understanding of the challenges veterans face when they enter the civilian workforce," Casey said. "This has been critical in helping veterans understand their own skills and businesses understand the tremendous value military-experienced employees bring to their companies." 100,000 Jobs Mission has created the Veteran Talent Exchange (VTX), an employer-led Web tool that facilitates the sharing and referral of veteran career profiles among 100,000 Jobs Mission members. AT&T, a founding member of the 100,000 Jobs Mission, is leading the Veteran Talent Exchange effort. North Carolina rank: 30 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 2.7% Unemployment Rate 1.5% 8.3% year ago 2.9% 2.8% 9.5% year-over-year change -7.5% -47.0% -12.6% Top County WashiNgToN CouNTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 4.2% 12.2% year ago 4.4% 13.0% year-over-year change -2.9% -6.7% Top Core-Based statistical area heNdersoN, NC 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 7.5% 2.9% year ago 6.7% 3.7% year-over-year change 10.9% -21.0% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the September 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. FROM THE BENCH Federal Court in North Carolina Dismisses 'Fraud by Use of MERS' Case Merscorp Holdings, Inc. announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), JPMorgan Chase, and other MERS members in a recent case. In James Porterfield vs. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Inc. MERS, et al, the borrower plaintiff brought several counts including "fraud by use of MERS," alleging MERS could neither be a named beneficiary nor a nominee of a lender in the deed. The plaintiff further claimed that the "the hidden purpose of MERS is to defraud borrowers and the clerks of court by hiding the true owners of secured interests on property in opposition to common law policies and the laws of North Carolina, and that all transfers of the deed or the note by MERS are void."

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