Why Mortgage Brokers Love Countrywide

They seems to be getting it together and working with offers much quicker now on their REO properties.  It's good to see.

Brian ~ you are on the opposite side when it comes to Countrywide. Here on the REO side I prefer to avoid them like the plaque.  My last closing was with one of their LOW LIFE escrow companies that took 5 yes FIVE HOURS to close. The only way to get those idiots to do something is to sit in their lobby and glare at them!

Sad but true, my case is not the only one.  Time and again they demonstrate their ineffectiveness and rude, disrespectful attitude to both the consumers and brokers. 

Sell an REO? Hell no.

There are too many institutions out there that have integrity and a good code of ethical behavior.

kk

Hi Brian: I don't love Countrywide because they have a habit of beating me on loans by overpromising and underdelivering. I lost one today to their "Fast and Easy" Program. The borrower is self-employed and CW is going to have to state that the guy makes $50,000/month just to make the loan work. This is after I spent significant time telling the client how to pay off their debt in order to fit into the appropriate debt ratio.  Last year I lost a jumbo loan to Countrywide that turned into a nightmare for my client. This was after they said no problem. Again, I spent a fair amount of time on the loan that I lost. I guess I'm a little irked when I do things the right and honest way and get beaten by some "Fast and Easy" program. No wonder CW is in trouble. And don't believe for a minute that Countrywide was a well run company. They were going to go under if BofA wouldn't have stepped up to the plate. Although I believe CW will still be acquired, the name will be gone forever.
And if BofA changes its mind, it won't be a disaster. Granted I've never used them but after all their promises, I'm very leery. Sorry for the CW rant. Tomorrow will be a better day! Take care.

Brian - well it will be interesting. BOA has very few REOs and short sales, relative to Countrywide, especially here in CA, and they have a good system for taking care of them. They are taking on a HUGE challenge, given the volume of these properties that CW has,  assuming things still happen (which the latest word is that they will). Time will tell.

Jeff

So the buyout is on again? I've read so many blogs about this that I don't know what to believe. I do know that Countrywide used to be the preferred lender of our brokerage and they changed it. But I do my own thing anyway. I have my own preferences.

We have a Countrywide branch right across the street from my office...that's where my loan is. I have had no problems with them. I only have given them A loans so I guess with the past programs they might have issues. I on the other hand hate Bank Of America for my own reasons. Angelo Mozzilo was smart because when he knew it was getting very hot in the kitchen he decided to pack up his yacht and sale off to Alaska. they are still in business. Do you notice Mozillo kind of has another companies name mixed in with his? get it? Maybe he owns a piece.

Hmmmmm....... maybe we should start a top ten list:

I send my loans to Countrywide because:

10.  I want the underwriter in the wholesale channel to deny the loan for some ridiculous reason so that someone from CFC retail can steal it.

9.  I want to get "picked off" by CFC's portfolio defense team when I try to refinance my customer out of the CFC loan I put them in last year.

8.  I have a good laugh when I hear former CFC underwriters brag about the loans they approve for deadbeats.

7.  I take sadistic pleasure hearing former customers complain about the torturous treatment they receive from CFC's servicing department.

Anyone else care to share?

Sorry, Brian.  Not everyone has had as good an experience with CFC as you apparently have.

Brian,

I think the operators of CW are going to start jumping ship.  There is already a huge rumor mill floating around our market about very unhappy CW employees being overworked and underappreciated.  Though the CEO of B of A is now on board, he and his management team have not made it clear to the operators on what that is.  I would not be surprised if you see a lot of people leave for other lenders.

Thanks again for the great post, your mortgage insight always brings out a good debate.

Paul above:

Hi Brian: I don't love Countrywide because they have a habit of beating me on loans by overpromising and underdelivering. I lost one today to their "Fast and Easy" Program. The borrower is self-employed and CW is going to have to state that the guy makes $50,000/month just to make the loan work. This is after I spent significant time telling the client how to pay off their debt in order to fit into the appropriate debt ratio.  Last year I lost a jumbo loan to Countrywide that turned into a nightmare for my client. This was after they said no problem. Again, I spent a fair amount of time on the loan that I lost. I guess I'm a little irked when I do things the right and honest way and get beaten by some "Fast and Easy" program. No wonder CW is in trouble. And don't believe for a minute that Countrywide was a well run company. They were going to go under if BofA wouldn't have stepped up to the plate. Although I believe CW will still be acquired, the name will be gone forever.

This is not a CW situation but a competing LO making expectations that cannot be delivered upon.  I had a similiar situation happen in my market, and I ended up fighting and winning the deal.  The big thing that CW needs to be careful with is a direct violation of RESPA by steering borrowers into REO's they own by forcing them to loan app. with them.  They might again make headlines if this behavior continues.

We've seen plenty of analysts pan CFC saying they are not worth more than $1-$3 per share.

I think Bank of America will get as close as they can to buying Countrywide, and then not follow through.

Realize that their entire strategy right now really is nothing more than "shrink to profitability".  By eliminating the redundant backroom jobs, they hope to achieve profitability.

Countrywide is bankrupt.  They have no real cash unless they sell something out of their portfolio.  I think Bank of America will let them fail and be  the first in line to pick the carcass clean in order to recover the billions they have "injected" into CFC.

I think the worst is yet to come for CFC. Lots of lawsuits plaguing them in several states right now.  A kiss of death volatile option ARM portfolio that NO ONE will buy.

The real estate market cannot possibly turn around fast enough to make this a sensible deal.

Besides thinking CFC is overvalued, I think that Bank of America's name on the street is horrible when it comes to retail loans.  Anyone who works for them as a retail LO, or who has worked for them in the past knows that when the market turns, they shut the doors on their mortgage divisions and leave the LO's hanging in the breeze.  They shrunk their retail loan operations drastically back in 2006..... When the market was red hot.  They have pursued a kamikaze plan to commoditize mortgages to the point that they have bank tellers acting as loan officers.  Granted, they still are very competitive when it comes to taking care of their top shelf customers with business banking relationships.

I don't think that they can effectively pull off the merger of the two corporate cultures.  Countrywide followed the defunct WAMU model of buying their way to #1 mortgage lender in size, but in this market, who cares?  WAMU couldn't effectively assimilate or sevice all the loans they bought back in 2000 and 2001 during their buying binge. What happened?  They lost so much of their business to the lenders that were able to service the customers.  I worked at Wells Fargo back during the height of the refi-boom. Most of my customers were WAMU people who couldn't get phone calls returned about their loans that had transferred to WAMU.  And I'm in WA, where WAMU has the strongest presence!

I would bet everything that B of A will not be able to make it work.  They are only looking to get the performing parts of the portfolio, and hopefully absorb a lot of the customer base that CFC created.  Countrywide is just a name right now, the rest of the company is worthless.  Bank of America just wants an insider look.  Already we're seeing Bank of America start to try to recruit away the talent form CFC.  2 top producing CFC LO's that call on the same Real Estate office that I do told the broker that they "merged to Bank of America" and that's who they work for now.  What really happened is that they quit CFC for large signing bonuses and went to B of A. 

I like Countrywide they are the reason that I close so many Builders deals here in town. They can't even close the door behid them-selves!!!!  Thanks Countrywide for all of the business!!!!!!!