Only 8.5 Billion?

This just in, courtesy of the Associated Press and National Public Radio:

Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed.
The Charlotte, N.C., bank says the settlement with 22 investors is subject to court approval and covers 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.
As a result of the settlement, Bank of America put its second-quarter loss at $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion. Excluding the settlement and other charges, the bank expects to post a quarterly loss of $3.2 billion to $3.7 billion.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. jumped 4 percent before the market opened, with investors happy that the bank can put very big uncertainty behind it.

All I have to say about this is.....unfortunately, while this court decision means Bank of America is being forced to be held accountable for some of their gross negligences, they're still not being held accountable to THEIR CLIENTS. They're only being held accountable at this point to the big spenders (like Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae) who backed the loans. 

By the way, according to NPR, 8.5 billion is about equal to the amount of the profit Bank of America would've otherwise pocketed this year. Poor, poor Bank of America. Sure hope you can still make your mortgage payments this year.