Defending a lawsuit claiming it engaged in fraud and misrepresentation when it strung borrowers along with the promise of a loan modification, Countrywide asserted that its ads promising help with loan modification was just puffery.

It’s a startling admission from a mortgage lender already in the glare for its lending practices.  But, hey, we can give them points for honesty:   in my experience,  the lender community has no real commitment to loan modifications unless the promise gets the feds out of its face and the spotlight directed elsewhere.

Personally, I’m pulling out the consent judgment against Countrywide and figuring out what they’ve agreed to in court, and counting the days til we get   legislation providing for modifications of loans from every lender.