NY pension funds to lead Countrywide plaintiffs

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge has named two New York pension funds lead plaintiffs in a series of investor class-action lawsuits accusing Countrywide Financial Corp CFC.N, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, of inflating earnings and overstating its ability to weather the housing slump.

U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles on Wednesday appointed New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and the New York City Pension Funds as co-lead plaintiffs for five consolidated lawsuits, court records show.

She found that the pension funds, with a combined loss of "over $100 million," had the largest stake of any prospective lead plaintiff. The judge also said the funds had considerable experience in similar cases and accepted their statement that they planned to vigorously protect all plaintiffs' interests.

Countrywide is based in Calabasas, California. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Andre Grenon)