Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) has been playing with the numbers in cases involving foreclosures and bankruptcies and bankruptcy judges are finally starting to doubt them, according to a story in today's Wall Street Journal. When caught, Countrywide always gives the excuse that it was an error, but judges are beginning to wonder why there are so many errors.

The case with the biggest error involves a home owner who questioned Countrywide's insistence that he had to pay $4,800 a month during bankruptcy. When the judge went along with the borrower in questioning the amount, Countrywide admitted it erred and then reduced its claim in half to about $2,400 a month. In a hearing in December, Bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol told Countrywide had been found "with its hand in the cookie jar," according to the Journal story. He's just one of the judges the Journal discusses today.

Countrywide told the Journal that it has already paid at least $400,000 in costs associated with a Justice Department investigation into Countrywide's handling of loan payments and court claims across the country. Now that bankruptcy judges are starting to lose faith in Countrywide's numbers, I hope they also take a closer look at the numbers from other mortgage servicers as well. I first wrote about this problem in November, and I'm glad to see the courts are finally acting to protect consumers already facing financial distress.

Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including The 250 Questions You Should Ask to Avoid Foreclosure and the Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score.

The former parts division of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Delphi Corp., signed settlement and restructuring agreements with its former parent last Friday as it rolls out is plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Delphi is trying to put behind it a slew of legal wranglings with GM so that it can begin the process of creating a profitable company without a shaky future. Its reorganization plan, which has been a long (long) time coming, outlines many areas the company has singled out as key to its return from bankruptcy. One of the biggest wins for GM is a $2.7 billion cash distribution that the automaker will receive in lieu of its multiple claims against Delphi.

But the fun does not stop there -- Delphi has reached agreements with all six U.S. labor unions. The company will continue to operate four UAW-represented sites, three IUE-CWA-represented sites and one USW-represented site. Ah, the unions get their comeuppance here (no surprise). However, a sour note is that 25 Delphi sites in North America will be sold or closed.

The relationship between GM and Delphi and the resulting bankruptcy of the latter is one of the more complex situations in the automotive business in the last decade or so. GM needs to get this behind it so that it can concentrate on the business of, you know, making cars and trucks that customers want to buy, and at competitive prices. The Delphi situation has been a drag on resources for far too long, but the clouds are starting to part.