By E. Scott Reckard , Los Angeles Times|September 11, 2008
Countrywide Financial Corp. is offering two years of free credit monitoring to customers whose sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, allegedly was stolen from the home lender's computers.
In one of the largest data-theft cases in years, a former Countrywide employee was arrested Aug. 1 and charged with illegally accessing the company's computers for more than two years. He has pleaded not guilty.
The information was being sold to mortgage brokers to be used as sales leads, federal authorities said in August.
As many as 2 million loan applicants might have had their data stolen, the FBI said. Countrywide described that figure as too high but declined to provide its own estimate.
Countrywide spokesman Rick Simon said the lender, which was acquired by Bank of America Corp. on July 1, was working closely with the FBI.
No financial harm has been reported as a result of the theft, Simon said.
"The investigations have not produced any indication that this has led to any borrower being a victim of identity theft or fraud," he said.
Letters from Countrywide that customers said were arriving this week offer them daily monitoring of their credit files maintained by the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
The service, provided at no cost to the customers by an Experian business unit, ConsumerInfo.com, includes e-mail alerts of significant changes in credit reports, according to Countrywide, which advised the affected customers to monitor their financial accounts.
Two Countrywide customers sued the lender and its parent company last month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accusing Countrywide and Bank of America of failing to protect customers' sensitive information. The suit asks that it be certified as a class action.
