A judge who imposed a $45 million penalty on Bank of America Corp. over a foreclosure on a California couple still isn’t ready to forget the case he described as a “Kafkaesque nightmare,” Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein voiced exasperation yesterday as the bank sought for the third time to win his approval of a confidential settlement that would nix the monetary penalty and also erase the 107-page ruling he issued in March detailing the bank’s “callous” and “cruel” treatment of the Sundquist family after they sought a mortgage modification. The judge said that it looked to him like the bank was “holding the Sundquists hostage” by making the settlement contingent on the ruling being dismissed. Jonathan Hacker, a lawyer for the bank, told the judge the concern is that the ruling could be used in other cases against the bank. Hacker agreed to consult with his client and let the judge know by day’s end about whether the bank will still honor the settlement if the judge refuses to dismiss the case entirely, including his March ruling.
