Bank of America slashes 540 mortgage jobs

Bank of America, which cut more jobs than any other big bank in the first quarter, has given 540 more mortgage employees their walking papers

Bank of America is slashing 540 mortgage jobs in North Carolina.

The cuts will affect mortgage employees who work in the bank’s Legacy Asset Servicing unit, which handles loans that are past due, in foreclosure or are being modified, according to a Charlotte Business Journal report.

“It’s a really difficult message because the fact that we’ve cut the need for that support thanks to these efforts and an improving economy is a good sign for our company and the customer,” BOA spokesman Dan Frahm told the Journal. “But for our employees who have worked so hard to help those customers, this is tough.”

Bank of America has drastically reduced the number of mortgages 60 days or more past due in its portfolio. At its peak, the portfolio had 1.4 million 60-days-plus mortgages. Now it’s just 277,000, according to the Journal.

Many of the big banks have been slashing jobs over the last year. Bank of America cut more mortgage jobs in the first quarter – 2,974 – than any other bank.