B of A drops Countrywide name

Countrywide, a company synonymous with mortgage loans for four decades before it was vilified for its role in the housing market collapse that plunged the nation into recession, will vanish from the business landscape on Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

That's when the Calabasas-based mortgage operation will be rebranded as Bank of America, which bought the lender in January 2008 for $4 billion.

"At Countrywide, we're re-branding our stores this month so our customers will be looking at the Bank of America name across our entire mortgage operation," Joe L. Price, the company's chief financial officer, said during an conference call this week.