WASHINGTON — Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., which is under investigation on allegations that it inflated certain borrowers’ fees, acknowledged that it had made errors and pledged to take steps to improve its operations. Steve Bailey, chief executive of loan administration at Calabasas-based Countrywide, told a Senate panel that the company’s loan officers had made mistakes “from time to time.” He said Countrywide would hire an outside auditor to review its actions involving homeowners who had filed for Bankruptcy Court protection. But he disputed accusations, made by hundreds of borrowers in Pennsylvania, Florida and other states, that the company sought to collect inflated fees and other payments by filing inaccurate bankruptcy documents. The Justice Department is investigating the accusations. For the full story http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-country7-2008may07,0,5129029.story