Bank of America (BAC) extended nearly $184bn in new credit during Q309, bringing the total of new credit issued for the first nine months of the year to $759bn. During the quarter, BofA originated $96bn in first mortgages for nearly 450,000 borrowers purchase homes or refinance mortgages. During the first nine months of the year, the bank said its originated $292bn in first mortgages for more than 1.3m borrowers. BofA’s $759bn in new credit extended is equal to nearly $17 for every $1 of the $45bn of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds it received from the federal government. By November 16, Bank of America will pay more than $2.5bn in dividend payments to the US Treasury Department. “As households and communities across America continue to feel financial strain, we are working hard to revitalize the US economy by making every good loan that we can to individuals, businesses of all sizes, and municipalities and nonprofits across the country,” said Bank of America’s consumer policy executive Andrew Plepler. “We are hopeful that our ongoing efforts will not only improve economies across America, but also provide consumers the relief they need during these difficult times.” Bank of America said it’s increased its default servicing staff 55%, and has more than 11,000 employees who handle mortgage loss mitigation. During the past 21 months, Bank of America modified 445,000 mortgages, an average of more than 21,000 per month through its own modification program. In addition, it has nearly 100,000 borrowers in the trial period of Making Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) workout plans. In addition, Bank of America said its spent more than $10.5m to help tenants and owners of foreclosed properties with relocation fees during the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total of more than $31.5m to help 10,100 individuals. Its real estate-owned (REO) program also provides technical assistance to more than 70 communities and weekly REO information to 190 jurisdictions. The bank also said it originated nearly $3bn in home equity and reverse mortgage loans during the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to more than $10bn. Lending to low- and moderate-income customers totaled more than $23bn in mortgages during the quarter, for 154,000 borrowers. Year-to-date total is $64bn for more than 410,000 borrowers. Write to Austin Kilgore.