Big bank to lay off hundreds of its mortgage staff

The lender said the layoffs are due to the declining number of delinquent mortgages the bank now services.

Bank of America has announced it is planning to lay off more than 200 employees from its legacy mortgage servicing operations in its Norfolk, Virginia, office. The division of the bank handles troubled mortgages.

The bank filed a notice with state and local officials alerting them to the planned staff reduction in the Legacy Asset Servicing division. Layoffs are expected to take place March 29, according to the Associated Press.

In 2012, the division included 42,000 full-time workers across the company as the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank dealt with more than a million past-due mortgages. Since then, Bank of America has cut a third of those jobs.

In November, Bank of America, along with Citigroup, announced they would put about $1 billion each of nonperforming and re-performing mortgages on the market. The move was in an effort to meet demand and avoid the costs of holding troubled debt.