BOA posts loss after mortgage woes

One of the nation’s biggest banks booked a first-quarter loss after spending $6 billion on various mortgage disputes

One of the nation’s biggest banks booked a first-quarter loss after spending $6 billion on various mortgage disputes.

Bank of America posted a Q1 loss of $276 million, according to a Bloomberg report. The bank posted a $1.48 billion profit in the first quarter of 2013.

The bank’s $6 billion in legal costs include $3.6 billion in settlements with the federal government and an additional $2.4 billion in reserves for “mortgage-related matters,” the bank said in a statement. The banks said it may also have to pay penalties tied to various state and federal investigations, Bloomberg reported.

The Q1 loss is the bank’s fourth quarterly loss since Brian T. Moynihan became CEO in 2010, according to Bloomberg. Bank of America was facing trouble when Moynihan stepped in; the lender’s 2008 purchase of the ailing Countrywide Financial Corp. left it liable for thousands of toxic Countrywide loans and contributed to more than $50 billion BOA has spent cleaning up the mess.