Countrywide profits fall 33%

The mortgage industry as a whole has been suffering ever since the downward spiral of the housing market. A lot of mortgage companies have closed up shop....ie....Fremont, New Century and others have had significant layoffs....ie.....Citibank. Fortunately, for Countrywide their business is continueing to grow. They haven't come out with their new numbers, but they just overtook Wells Fargo as #1 in...

Countrywide's heavy reliance on its underwriting programs and steady appetite for Pay-Option ARM's has created havoc for its portfolio management team. Countrywide's belief that it was smarter than the Mortgage Industry has led to this situation, and we have only begun to see the impact.

In Monterey County, California, the subprime market has evaporated for the most part.  Consequently, home prices on the lower end of the market have experienced a dramatic decline of between 15% to 30% depending upon the location of the property.  The number of bank owned properties has risen over the past several months.  In the beginning of the housing correction, most of the foreclosures...

[FULL DISCLOSURE: MR MARIOTTI IS NOT CURRENTLY (BUT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST) ENGAGED BY CFC] 1) On or about January of 2003 our financial systems firm was solicited by the major real estate financial services firms to increase automation for compliance, predatory lending and loss mitigation. 2) Finally today... the actual real estate investors are reeling from the foreclosures.

1) I have had personal experience where Countrywide turned down a loan but another company accepted it and then transferred it to Countryside. 2) Countryside is accepting more doubtful loans than it should. 3) There are now more foreclosures appearing and Countrywide should be more choosy rather than trying to buy up all other loans, which may not end up profitable.