Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of New York announced this week that he plans to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failure to adhere to the terms of a $26 billion settlement that was supposed to provide relief to homeowners and end foreclosure abuses.

A California judge has opened the door for the American International Group to pursue a fraud claim of more than $7 billion against Bank of America for losses it suffered on mortgage securities sold under duress after the federal government rescued A.I.G. in 2008.  

What was so unusual about Phillip Ratliff’s experience in getting approval for his first mortgage was that it wasn’t difficult at all — even though he could afford a down payment of only 5 percent.

In the years after the housing bubble burst, borrowers had to practically promise their firstborn child to secure a mortgage.

Bank of America has agreed to pay $165 million to settle accusations from the federal agency that regulates credit unions over sales of mortgage-backed securities to corporate credit unions that led them to fail, the agency said on Tuesday.

Among the conditions imposed on most people who borrow money to buy a house, maintaining property insurance is one of the most common. If a borrower lets such a policy lapse, the lender will often protect its investment by purchasing a policy and billing the homeowner for it.

TWO weeks ago, I wrote a column about a secret agreement struck in July 2012 by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America. The existence of the confidential deal was disclosed recently in court filings, which showed the New York Fed releasing Bank of America from all fraud claims on mortgage securities the Fed had bought as part of the government’s rescue of the American International Group in 2008.

A year ago, when the nation’s biggest banks settled with state and federal officials over claims of foreclosure abuses, the public was led to believe that the deal would allow millions of hard-pressed borrowers to escape the threat of foreclosure. It still hasn’t happened.

In January, federal regulators announced an $8.5 billion agreement with 10 mortgage servicers to settle claims of foreclosure abuses, including bungled loan modifications and the wrongful evictions of borrowers who were either current on their payments or making reduced monthly payments.

MANY people became rightfully upset about bailouts given to big banks during the mortgage crisis. But it turns out that they are still going on, if more quietly, through the back door.

The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America, came to light just last week in court filings.

Bank of America has long rued its decision in 2008 to acquire Countrywide Financial, the subprime mortgage giant. To date, the bank has set aside some $40 billion to settle claims of mortgage misconduct that occurred before it acquired the freewheeling lender.

It has been a regular refrain at Bank of America. Last month, Brian T. Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, told Bloomberg television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that carrying Countrywide was like climbing a mountain with “a 250-pound backpack.”