The agreement, expected to reduce principal balances by an average of more than $100,000, is part of a side deal Bank of America signed when it and other large mortgage servicers reached a recent $25 billion foreclosure-abuse settlement.
Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington— Bank of America has agreed to reduce the loan balances of underwater homeowners more aggressively than other banks, saying that by next month it will start contacting 200,000 borrowers who may qualify.
The pledge is part of a side deal that BofA signed when it and other large …

Stocks closed modestly higher Friday after the government’s monthly employment report bolstered hopes that the economic recovery is on track. The gains were tempered by news that a big debt write-down by Greece could cause big losses for some banks.
Three years after stocks hit bottom during the Great Recession, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 14 points and finished the week with a loss of just 56.
That was after a 203-point dive Tuesday, the worst drop so far this year. The Dow was up more than 60 points Friday morning …

Employers added more than 200,000 workers to their payrolls for a third straight month in February, a sign the economy was strengthening and in less need of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Friday’s Labor Department report, which showed nonfarm payrolls increased 227,000 last month, also bolstered President Barack Obama’s chances for re-election.
The jobless rate held at a three-year low of 8.3 percent even as people flooded back into the labor force to hunt for work, and 61,000 more jobs were created in December and January than previously thought.
“The economy, …

American business mogul Donald Trump will visit Tbilisi on April 20. Michael D. Cohen Executive Vice President and Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, confirmed this information to The COMMERCIAL TIMES in an email.
“At this moment in time, Mr. Trump has completed architectural plans to build a residential tower on the water in Batumi. Mr. Trump is scheduled to be in Tbilisi on April 20 to discuss the project with Silk Road Group and The President,” Cohen wrote.
In March 2011 an agreement was signed in the head …

NEW YORK — Bank of America has reached a side agreement with US authorities that could reduce the mortgages of some 200,000 borrowers in order to avoid fines of up to $850 million, the Wall Street Journal said.
The financial newspaper reported late Thursday that the bank had reached the separate agreement as part of a recent $25 billion settlement related to alleged foreclosure abuses.
Last month five of the country’s top banks, the federal government and 49 states — all except Oklahoma — agreed to help homeowners cut their mortgage debt, …