Is Countrywide a boon for Bank of America?

Most of the words used to describe mortgage lender Countrywide Financial are either unkind or unprintable. But Bank of America Corp. (BAC), which bought the embattled company for $4 billion in 2008, has a much different view.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Barbara Desoer, BofA's head of mortgage, home equity and insurance said, "Volume is good, application quality is holding up and the acquisition of Countrywide is really paying off for us with the additional capacity. . . . Thank goodness we have it."