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If you were the executive running the show at Countrywide Financial as it made horrible loans that torpedoed the company, then sold it to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) at a fire-sale price that was still high enough to torpedo that company, what would you do?If you're Stanford L. Kurland, the company's former president, you would assemble a team of former Countrywide executives and buy back these crummy loans for pennies on the dollar -- hoping to collect whatever you could from the struggling consumers whose financial lives have been ruined by the products you peddled.
The fund has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from institutional investors and Mr. Kurland has plowed some of his own personal fortune in as well -- he sold $200 million worth of Countrywide stock before the company imploded.
It's tempting to hate these clowns even more for trying to profit further from the mess they created, but by buying these loans at rock bottom prices, they're helping banks clean up their balance sheets -- and also helping consumers by working to negotiate new loan terms and avoid foreclosure. And the income Mr. Kurland generates will, of course, be subject to income taxes, so the more successful he is the more money we have to bailout more banks.
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