These days we can assume that most banks are scummy. But the scummiest by far, judging from the news and lawsuits is Bank of America. I feel bad for their customers when I read the horror stories, but I have one of my own. When a friend's sister died without a will, he tried to straighted out her finances. He could not find any record in Virginia of a mortgage, just a loan from SunTrust, which he brought up to date. Since the incompetent Arlington, Virginia, post office had not saved the mail of the deceased, he had no correspondence indicating a mortgage. After eight months, he was ready to sell his sister's house, but was surprised to find that it had been sealed and locked by Bank of America in preparation for foreclosure. This, despite receiving no notice of delinquent payments, which he would have been eager to pay had he known. Despite many calls to B of A, they never responded or explained their action. They were completely unreachable. It wasn't until a lawyer pushed the issue that they finally revealed, months later, the mortgage information and demanded payment, which they got. Of course, they failed to provide any proof of the mortgage knowing that my friend didn't want any more financial and legal hassles. So, payment was essentially blackmail. In the meantime my friend has discovered that many items are missing from the house, which were there before the B of A intrusion. One can only assume that their goons stole the items, something one cannot prove. There is no question in my mind that Bank of America is one of the most dishonest, dishonorable and detestable of America's financial institutions. A pity, when it had such a distinguished beginning in San Francisco and was once so admired and respected. But then you could say the same thing about the United States, a country who, more and more, does very little to prosecute thieves like Bank of America.