May 29 (Reuters) - A former home appraiser will receive
$14.5 million as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that accused
subprime lender Countrywide Financial of inflating appraisals on
government-insured loans, his attorneys said Tuesday.
Kyle Lagow's lawsuit sparked an investigation that
culminated in a $1 billion settlement announced in February
between Bank of America Corp and the U.S. Justice Department
over allegations of mortgage fraud at Countrywide, his attorneys
said in a news release. Bank of America bought Countrywide in
2008.
Lagow's suit was one of five whistleblower complaints that
were folded into the $25 billion national mortgage settlement
that state and federal officials reached with Bank of America
and four other lenders this year. His suit was unsealed in
February, but the amount of his settlement had not been
disclosed.
Gregory Mackler, a whistleblower who challenged Bank of
America's handling of the government's HAMP mortgage
modification program, has also finalized a settlement, said
Shayne Stevenson, an attorney with the Hagens Berman law firm,
which represented both whistleblowers. Stevenson declined to
comment on Mackler's settlement amount.
The complaints were brought under a whistleblower provision
in the U.S. False Claims Act, which allows private individuals
with knowledge of wrongdoing to bring suits on behalf of the
government and share in the proceeds of any settlement.
Both Lagow and Mackler lost their jobs after raising
concerns about practices at their companies and faced difficult
times awaiting settlements, Stevenson said. Lagow, who worked in
a Countrywide appraisal unit, filed his suit in 2009; Mackler,
who worked at a firm called Urban Lending Solutions, brought his
case in 2011.
"These guys are inspirational," Stevenson said. "They both
did the right thing. The should inspire other people to come
forward."
Bank of America declined to comment. A spokesman for the
U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York,
which handled the Bank of America settlement, also declined to
comment.
(Reporting by Rick Rothacker)
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