An amended complaint filed Thursday by the California attorney general related to a suit against Countrywide Financial Corp. sheds new light on the poor quality of loans the company was planning to sell to investors.

The new data provide a close look at 158,000 mortgages that had been slated for sale by Countrywide Homes Loans before last summer's credit crunch -- which was triggered by rising mortgage defaults -- turned investors away from mortgage-backed securities. Nearly 48% of nonprime loans and 21% of pay-option adjustable-rate mortgage in that portfolio were in some stage of delinquency or foreclosure as of April ...