Big banks, particularly Bank of America, have been under fire for being slow to respond to federal government efforts to help people underwater on their mortgages through refinancing or short sales. Critics have been charging that the banks’ mortgage arms pile delay upon delay and often steer homeowners into new mortgages with onerous terms.

Among the newspaper articles that commissioners cited in dropping Bank of America was a report last week in the Orlando Sentinel that Bank of America trails other major lenders in resolving troubled homes loans.

According to the report, Bank of America holds more than a million mortgages that are months behind on their payments — twice as many defaulting home loans as any other lender in the country. But the story said the bank has given permanent mortgage modifications to only about 1 percent of those borrowers — one of the lowest rates among lenders nationally.

Commissioners also cited a St. Petersburg Times story from February about Bank of America foreclosing on the wrong house. They also cited the firm’s decision last fall to tack annual fees of $29 to $99 onto some credit cards.

“I don’t think that bad behavior should be rewarded,” said Commissioner Lois Wexler, who co-sponsored the decision to drop Bank of America. “The big guys -- the big banks -- are part of the solution because they hold the majority of the mortgages so it is extremely troubling to me that their attitude is poor when it comes to homeowners both locally and throughout the nation.”