Illinois to sue Countrywide

I thought this was an interesting off-topic story, considering what's going on in the United States these days. And yes, you correctly read the headline, the State of Illinois is filing one, big, happy lawsuit against what soon will be the nation's former largest mortgage broker. But it gets better, wait till you see who runs/ran Countrywide.

"The nation's biggest mortgage lender engaged in "unfair and deceptive" [ya think?!]practices to get homeowners to apply for risky mortgages far beyond their means, according to a civil lawsuit Illinois' attorney general planned to file Wednesday," the AP reported today. All I have to say is this: I wouldn't exactly trust a company run by a guy who looks like this...[Photo: CEO Angelo Mozilo] Being from northeast New Jersey, I know these kinds of "Fellas" and I wouldn't really be too inclined to take out a loan from them. But if I had to take their money, and eventually missed a payment, I'd probably start keeping a baseball bat under my bed.

The AP story added, "The lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC, Fortune 500) - planned for the same day shareholders were scheduled to vote on the company's takeover by Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Fortune 500) - stems from information from documents subpoenaed by the state beginning last fall, as the number of foreclosures nationwide began to skyrocket."

What else could go wrong right now for Mozilo? His friends might find out that his tan is fa... ah, never mind. Good for them.