rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >>> now to news on the housing markets. still struggling badly, even though the government has made a huge effort to prop it up. prices are down 28% from the peak back in '06. 1/4 of american borrowers own more on their mortgage than their home is worth. that led to bank of america to announce today it's taking a step it hasn't taken before. our report from diana olick. >> reporter: in the spring housing market, the number of foreclosure signs is growing, driving prices down further across the nation's neighborhoods. one out of every five home loans in the u.s. is held by bank of america, the nation's largest mortgage company which took on 12 million loans from failed countrywide financial in 2008. as part of that deal, b of a is launching a small test program that gives borrowers back their equity, about $3 billion worth. >> we are starting with this program and going to test it here and hope to expand it in the future. >> reporter: in fact, the program could be the model for a change in the treasury's modification plan. >

nbc's rehema ellis is following the case for us here in new york. re you learning about the case prosecutors are going to make? >> it's a very disturbing case. because this is a man that people trusted. a 56-year-old pediatrician, as you pointed out, dr. earl bradley. he has a total of 471 counts against him, against a number of victims. 103 children. all of them girls with the exception of one boy. and according to the indictment against him, he forced children as young as 3 months to engage in oral sex and intercourse. the ages range from 3 months to 13 years. how this whole thing came to light was back in december, a 2-year-old child went to her mother and told her that the doctor took her down into the basement of the office and hurt her. she took the information to authorities. they had gotten complaints about him before. they went to his office, arrested him. then they found that hidden within the toys in his office were video cameras. through those cameras, they found videotapes. they say that there are -- there is evidence on tape of the doct