I am not the first to report this on Active Rain, that award goes to Kate Bourland:  The Bloodbath Continues - Two Majors Leave the Wholesale Market, but I might be one of many who will miss this bank, as I am deeply saddened to see them leave this challenging market.

Here is the official corporate email: 

Dear valued clients:

Aurora Loan Services' parent company, Lehman Brothers, announced today that it will substantially reduce its resources and capacity in the U.S. residential mortgage origination space in light of the dislocation in the mortgage markets. As a result, Lehman Brothers is suspending all Wholesale and Correspondent mortgage originations at Aurora. Aurora will continue to originate loans through its direct lending channel, and will maintain its servicing business.

January 18 will be the last day to lock new loan applications, with a maximum lock period of 30 days. The final day to submit underwriting packages is January 25. We will continue to process locked applications in the pipeline through to final disposition, however lock extensions will not be granted. Please contact your regional Operations center regarding any questions or status updates.

We truly appreciate your business and support over the years.

With sincerest thanks.

Aurora was one of the first banks I worked with and had a proven track record of working with  real estate investor tranactions.  Most of my investors who bought real estate in the last 4 years, probably has Aurora as one of their lenders.  I am just sad to see this company  make these changes.  Their products were unique and they were one of the last players to offer investor financing. 

Creative financing might be the "BUZZ" word for investors who are looking to put tough deals together, because the last big Mortgage Bank in town just left on the train.

Aurora you will be missed and NOT forgotten.  Thank you for helping my clients when nobody else would.