Countrywide Home Loans were the kings of the Lending Sea.
The Big Kahuna’s (or Tunas) and expert big wave riders of Lender Island. Led by tanned Captain, Angelo Mozilo and his crew of what now appear to be drunk sailors who have taken the Countrywide boat (aka Lending Titanic) far adrift on what was supposed to be a 3 mile tour.
From the looks of things it looks like it has turned into Mozilo’s Island. Except the stranded survivors (Angelo and his pals) live in glass houses, eat caviar lunches and receive billion dollar botox injections into Countrywide’s veins.
Meanwhile they have turned their backs on the people and employees that dedicated their lives to working for this corporate titanic. Many have been be kicked on the streets with 2 weeks pay and not so much of a thank you. I think what they got was a non-disclosure to sign.
I wonder what they are trying to hide?
For many ex-Countrywide employees, they not only lost their jobs, but also their livelihoods and homes. Many even had a Countrywide Mortgage when they were foreclosed on.
There are many rumors, accusations, conspiracy theories going around as to how Countrywide had played a huge part for the mess we are in today and one loan keeps being mentioned more than any other mortgage product.
The Fast & Easy its called.
Here are some comments that have attracted a lot of media attention to my blog in regards to the Fast & Easy.
‘Up until recently, a 4506 was not required by Countryfried retail. Nothing was required except borrowers proof of identity and a signed 1003.Every borrower with a 680 score got 95% financing with 1 day on the job and any “reasonable income” was accepted no questions asked.
As a Retail LO I took the app on Fri and we drew docs on Monday and closed on Tuesday.Fast and Easy Pleasy..
and oh by the way FNMA’s famous line of “risk based pricing” became the biggest lie of all because I closed that loan at FNMA full doc pricing with no add ons for No Income Verrification…No Asset Verification..and a telephone verification that the borrower worked where he said he did.As long as Countrywide’s Clues UW system said OK the UW rubber stamps the deal,,wham bam thank you mam,easy pleasy fast and easy..with no add ons to full doc pricing
Watchdog:
The wholesale side of Countrywide has known about loop holes on the Fast and Easy for quite some time. They would tell the brokers leave the time on the job blank when they ran CLOUT. IT would not work, but then Wholesale would tell the broker to submit the file and they would “fix” it. They manipulate the system so that SISA loans could go through with out hardly any time on the job or less than one year self employed.
partysover:
I worked for Countrywide Wholesale as an UW until recently. The UWs were told that a CLUES Accept on a Fast & Easy Loan was what you needed to close the deal with the caveat that the UW could indicated that the income indicated for the borrowers on the 1003 was ‘deemed reasonable’. We were then instructed to cite why the income was deemed reasonable
BUT WE COULD NOT NOTE WHERE WE FOUND THE SUPPORTING DATA TO DEEM THE INCOME REASONABLE IN THE LOAN FILE.
Some UWs were pulling job sites such as Salary.com and putting the documentation in the loan files – we were all told to stop documenting the file. This makes absolutely NO SENSE! We were essentially told to rubber stamp everything and agree that the income made sense when we really had no idea whether it did or not.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I cannot believe there are SO many surprised people out there! I lost many Realtor accounts to CW because no matter what, at the end of the day, CW was able to put their borrowers in homes. Granted those same people are now either back out on the street or, if they are lucky, in a rental. But hey! The REALTOR got THEIR check, right???? I mean, if I am a Realtor and I refer my borrower to CW and THEY say it will close, that means the borrower can afford it, right??? PLEASE! Everything is going back to the way it should be, V A N I L L A !!!!
I cannot believe there are SO many surprised people out there! I lost many Realtor accounts to CW because no matter what, at the end of the day, CW was able to put their borrowers in homes. Granted those same people are now either back out on the street or, if they are lucky, in a rental. But hey! The REALTOR got THEIR check, right???? I mean, if I am a Realtor and I refer my borrower to CW and THEY say it will close, that means the borrower can afford it, right??? PLEASE! Everything is going back to the way it should be, V A N I L L A !!!!
The problem wasn’t just CW either, it was with all lenders. All lenders used the same FNMA product a skirted the real reason it was around. Every major lender had access to this fannie product and sold it aggressively as a way for brokers to qualify their clients without documentation. Unfortunately it became a crutch for those who couldn’t qualify full doc and a way to skirt the typical “stated” rules and “hits.”
“easy pleasy”?….is that like “achy breaky”?
Im tired of all these people blaming the lenders, brokers etc. especially when they were the ones that benefited from the industry. Everyone benefited from the mortgage industry and now when the shit hits the fence they started to turn on each other. Freaken savages… That makes me sick to the stomach; furthermore, we n don’t need any more bad publicity about the industry. To all the dicks out there that crying about this and that… wake up and smell the coffee; Mortgage and real-estate was the only industry supporting our economy. Thinking about it, I don’t we even export a god damn thing besides weapons; negative exports my friend. It’s about recycling the money to fuel consumer spending. Just suck it up and take it like a man and let’s move on. Negative news and publicity is killing our industry and to all you cry babies out there; if you’re not going to say anything good about the mortgage industry ;then don’t say anything at all. The only people to blame is the ones that open their god damn mouth and start cry about the industry . imagine if the damn analyst and news co didn’t open their damn mouth about all this negative stuff. It would be business as usual and investors would be still buying on the secondary market instead of being scared to death because they read something from a desk jocky that had issues with his mortgage and now want to take down the industry.
CW wasted so much money, I was recruited to do wholesale sales commission only in 2004 and was given a Guarantee of 25k per month
for 4 months just to switch company’s. They never asked for any proof of my previous sales or the prior years W-2.
They just wanted to have more field coverage. They were a poorly run company for the top down and it does not surprise me they are circling the proverbial drain
About 150 imploded companies ago the mortgage industry meltdown was entertaining. Now it’s just boring because we know how it’s going to end. You’re all soon to be X mortgage industry people. Get over it
MARK, FOR $25K A MONTH FOR 4 MONTHS…I WILL KISS YOUR ASS EVEN IF YOU ARE THE DUMPEST PERSON ON EARTH!!!
MJ, When we went to HQ for training of the CW product, there was 20 other sales reps from around the US that got the same type of deals. This was standard with wholesale brokers and banks.
We were being recruited weekly by the likes of Lehman, WAMU, World, Downey, Wells, BofA, Bear, etc…. This industry is in for major changes we have not yet seen. Once things like this get uncovered the board of directors is going to want answers
By the way 100k for 120 days worth of work plus my commission if thats the “dumpest” (as you put it) person on earth then I’m glad I’m dump
Mark, you got it all wrong, I never say you are the dump or dumpest, I am glad that they pay you the money, I am sure you worth every penny of that $100k..I rather see you get pay than those GOP Executive at CW (Mozilo,Sambol, Gissinger and etc…)sorry for the misunderstanding!
Some of the people here are either stupid morons or liars. I have worked for Countrywide Wholesale for years in both sales and underwriting. There was a time years ago that if you got a clues accept and the income was reasonable, then yes the loan would close soon after. Never once did we have anybody tell us to not document the file or not question time on job or time self employed. You people and i use that word lightly, obviously couldn’t cut it and were forced out and now want to talk negatively about the largest lender out there. Realize that you dont belong in this business and go get the next job pumping gas somewhere or practice the following , “would you like paper or plastic?”
give me a break!!! Everyone is so quick to find fault with CW!
Countrywide is the nations’s largest lender, and when a giant walks thru the village,everyone throws stones. 97.3% of all mortgages are paid on time. The media has blown this out of proportion and the secondary market responded by not buying securities. Fast and Easy wasn’t the problem, the builders keep building new homes and the market is already saturated with new inventory, that can only bring prices down further.
the consumer looked upon his property as a source of income and most buyers in the last 5 years have put a second deed and milked equity out before the market started declining,then they belly ache about their loans. Nobody likes the paying back part of the loan process.
THE MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER, THE MORTGAGE BROKER, THE BANK, THE REALTOR….DOES THIS SOUND ALL TO FAMILIAR??? IT’S EVERYONES FAULT…BUT NOT THE CUSTOMER(s) WHO TOOK THE MONEY, PAID OF CREDIT CARDS, SPENT THE EXTRA…AND JUST PLAINED SCREWED THEMSELVES… YOU SEE ON THE NEWS, BIG BAD MORTGAGE COMPANIE FORCLOSING…POOR FAMILY LIVING ON 35K, JOINT INCOME…BUT LET ME ASK YOU..WHAT BUSINESS DID THEY HAVE TAKEN OUT A $300,000 LOAN…. NOW BLAME THE LOAN OFFICER, BECAUSE HE PUT THEM THROUGH STATED! BUT WHAT HAPPENNED TO ALL THAT MONEY THEY TOOK? PAID OF THIER CREDIT CARDS, SO THEY COULD GO RUN THEM UP AGAIN, BECAUSE THEY WERE LIVING WAY OUT OF THIER LIFESTYLE? AND THE FINAL STEP WAS RE-MORTGAGING THE HOUSE… BECAUSE IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME, THEY WERE GOING BANKRUPT EITHER WAY?? YOU CAN GO TO ANY CAR LOT, WITH A 680 SCORE OR BETTER BUY A CAR, NEVER HAVE TO PROVE INCOME..BUT LET ME ASK YOU… DOES THAT MEAN I CAN GO BUY A MERCEDES S65 FOR $185,000, JUST BECAUSE THEY WILL LET ME DRIVE IT OFF THE LOT?? THIS IS NOT KNEW FOLKS…ALL THE WEAKMINDED, SELFISH, GREEDY PEOPLE HAVE DONE THIS FOR MANY YEARS, TAKE ALL YOU CAN GET IN LIFE, THEN CRY FOUL..”NOT MY FAULT!” “YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I WAS WEAK!” SOUNDS JUST LIKE YOUR DRUG ADDICTS… THESE PEOPLE WHO BORROWED AGAISNT THIER HOUSE, KNEW THEY COULDNT PAY IT BACK…BUT THEY TOOK THE LOAN ANYWAY…SOUNDS LIKE THE REAL VICTIM IS THE MORTGAGE COMPANIES…THEY LENT WITH AN AGREEMENT, THE BORROWERS TOOK, WITH NO REAL COMMITMENT!!!!!
BEL….
I HAVE TO SAY I AGREEE WITH BRIAN ON ALL ACCOUNTS , WE AS A NATION JUST LIVE OVER OUR HEADS
I totally agree! I also think there are those out there who CAN afford the payments, but choose to walk away from properties they’re upside down on due to values going down. Especially if the property was NOO (investment) or 2nd home. This happened in California in the early 1990’s. I really don’t have much sympathy for people who borrow money, don’t read what they’re signing and don’t pay back what they owe.
I’m sure there are those who understood what they were signing and lost their job or had some type of financial hardship. If there’s going to be any kind of bail out (with OUR taxpayer money), there sure as hell better be some auditing of each and every situation before a dime is given to help homeowners out!!!
Fast & Easy was never as described by the morons above. The real people that know Fast & Easy know that it was a high quality credit program that required more than just signing your name. It required 2 yrs on the job or self employment and was never that easy to get 95% through. Although, CW wholesale was reported to be the lowest quality loans of the 4 divsions of Countrywide, the quality is still very high. And, as Brian mentioned, everyone always wants to live above their means, get something for nothing and never accept the blame for mistakes.
I agree with Brian, everybody is crying now because they were living of increasing value of their home( ex. California, Florida, Nevada),now there is no more value and they can’t afford the property just like they couldn’t when the first got it. I’m a loan officer and I can’t tell you how many customers that I’ve seen refinance without any assets or sufficient income. They would refinance every six months and think it was alright. To be honest the pay option arms is what finally put the industry under, borowers could qualify full doc under the lowest payment and not the fully amortized payment and even go stated wit a 620. Some of the fault is on the btrokers, lenders, appraisers, etc, but also blame the consumers who were living well over there means now they are crying because they are losing a house they never could afford. And as far as builders they saw dollar signs in Florida peopel were buying condo and home sight unseen and in most cases not even built yet. I will be glad when the people who are not supposed to be in this business get out and borrowers who can’t afford these properties realize that they can’t live off of the equity in their homes.
There is absolutely no value in pointing fingers, this is capitalism at its best, there was an opportunity & people took advantage of it, it happens all the time, history is full of examples and it will happen again. We as people have short memories.
Unfortunately there are always a few bad apples & they give everyone a black eye, majority of us are good hard working & honest people and had no malicious intent. Unfortunately we as a society are not very far sighted, in fact we are programmed to think now, think short term.
All the signs were there, bloated inventory of homes,since when did property values go up forever and the list goes on & on.
I think we would be better served on trying to collectively focus on a solution, there are hundreds of thousands of people in dire conditions, not just those that have lost homes, but also people that have lost jobs, businesses that have been adversely impacted due to the housing & credit meltdown, retirees that are having to come back to the workforce – I wish I had the answers??
Lots of truth from CW mortgage people is coming forth and the reason is they worked for the greediest CEO out there. Mozillo would have run the company with just him and a secretary if he could have pulled that off! Every year the mantra would be “how can we get more out of fewer people for less money!”
But, if you really want to get worked up about the sleeze in the business, try this: Builders who are in line for a tax break from Congress! They built the houses, owned the title company, had their own mortgage companies and appraisers and cooked the books on the entire process. Now they are going to get a tax break? Give me a break! Write your Congressman and tell them “No tax breaks for builders!”
Not good enough. When are they going to go after loan servicers like Litton Loan who are forclosing on homeowners even when they pay their mortgage payments. Litton is not responding to peoples requests for items of their loans, are charging fees such as coorporate, forberance and whatever else they can charge and people are losing their homes because of it. When is our government (Bush and McClain) going to really help homeowners and not themselves. Lousy politicians have no clue on how extensive Litton Loan goes to get people’s homes. McClain, you stink like the rest of the republicans.
I have been a realtor for 21 years, and I feel that not only the mortgage companies were at fault but the appraisers and some realtors. I never suggested a sub prime loan to anyone knowing how they work. I usually suggested to my clients that they live within their means, to think ahead that what happens if one of them became in a situation that they cant work.
Because of this is why I feel I have a strong referral base. In the 21 years I have been a realtor and the 2000 or so homes I sold maybe 1% have gone to foreclosure.
This year has been slow but I am still doing ok and sleep well at night knowing I never directed anyone to a sub prime loan. If I had a client that was pre-approved with a sub prime lender I would ask them to speak to another loan officer I have worked with most of my career. I would suggest fha loans to clients.
103% financing, negative amortization loans, no doc loans (also known as liar loans) are what caused all this. The builders having their own mortgage company (which I feel should be illegal and borders on a respa violation) pushing their appraisers to give value on anything that sold. Too many newer realtors in the business working part time to just get a few extra bucks.
Mortgage companies pushed these loans you see the ditech commercials 1% financing but the buyer doesnt realize its just for a month. The buyer goes to closing and at that point it is explained and what options do they have. Buyers have to educate themselves on financing. Purchasing anything you can not afford makes no sense. I could of made a lot more money during the housing boom if I had pushed these loans on people, but now they are coming to me looking for a home, so it will work out in the end for most of them.
If people would educate themselves before they signed on the dotted line I dont think there would be as many people “out in the streets or renting” as you say. People should have enough common since to know what they are signing up for. The adjustable rate mortgage is something to be reconed with. I understand things happen in life however, the home retention department cannot help people if they are not willing to put some effort into it. Everyone has to make an effort to come together and make it work. Assistance cannot just be handed to you, I understand there are situations beyond your control. Countrywide is not the problem its the investors that are not able to assist countrywide. Education is Key in the mortgage business.