This is now officially getting scary.
If BofA really does take on Countrywide — and that is what the WSJ has reported — then BofA will have a couple quarters to clear all the dreck from Countrywide’s balance sheet. Any longer and BofA risks catching the same dreck disease that is dragging Countrywide into the gutter.
Take a look at just the stuff in North Carolina that Countrywide is trying to rid itself of — it is almost certainly upside down on everyone of these 168 foreclosed properties valued at $17 million. How can you tell? A Waxhaw house now going for $716,900 down from $852,900 a few months ago, that’s how.
Nationwide, we are talking 15,783 properties valued at $3,249,790,630 that Countrywide is trying to unload — and that is just the ones in foreclosure. There are thousands more everybody knows are bad.
As we noted back in August, BofA surely has the Fed’s blessing in trying to help clear Countrywide’s books. That means plenty of access to the discount window. But an outright purchase of Countrywide takes it to a whole new level.
BofA stockholders have to wonder exactly what kind of value they are getting — if any — out of this deal. The scary thought is that BofA is doing this with the hope of becoming the Fed’s de facto Resolution Trust Corp., charged with disposing of bad loans with lots of government support and help. Why do that? Because its own portfolio might be so scary that nationalizing yourself for a time sounds like a good idea.
BofA employees also have to wonder what the heck is up with this move. Sure we’ll be hearing from them in the coming days and weeks is this turns out to be true.
Update: It is official. Another $4 billion in an all-stock deal gets BofA the rest of Countrywide, after having paid $2 billion for 16 percent back in August. Can anyone say good money after bad?
To recap, that is $6 billion for an outfit that — right now — has $3.2 billion worth of property in foreclosure. And who knows how much more headed that way. One number I’d like to know, what is the value of the loans Countrywide made since 2005?
I am not saying every one of those is bad, but assuming so might not be a bad place for Ken Lewis and his team to start.