Bank of America Corp.’s decision to embark on an $8.4 billion home-loan-modification program to settle charges brought by state attorneys general against Countrywide Financial Corp. was hailed as a milestone when the deal was announced this fall.

But apparently nobody talked to one group that will shoulder much of the settlement’s costs: investors who hold securities backed by Countrywide mortgages.

Now, some of those investors are crying foul, adding to the confusion over what is becoming a central issue in efforts to resolve the wave of foreclosures that is at the root of the global financial crisis.

More than $2 trillion in poor mortgage loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors by Wall Street, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. But opinions vary regarding the degree to which these mortgages can be modified. Bank of America said it owns about 12 percent of the roughly 400,000 loans at issue in the settlement and can modify another 75 percent based on the “delegated authority” provided in its contracts with investors.

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