{"id":1855,"date":"2007-08-25T13:01:12","date_gmt":"2007-08-25T20:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2008-01-08T20:32:31","modified_gmt":"2008-01-09T03:32:31","slug":"the-new-york-times-goes-on-a-countrywide-manhunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1855\/the-new-york-times-goes-on-a-countrywide-manhunt\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Times goes on a Countrywide manhunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times<\/i> on the Countrywide mess and how the company got there:<\/a><\/p>\n

ON its way to becoming the nation’s largest mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corporation encouraged its sales force to court customers over the telephone with a seductive pitch that seldom varied. “I want to be sure you are getting the best loan possible,” the sales representatives would say.<\/p>\n

But providing “the best loan possible” to customers wasn’t always the bank’s main goal, say some former employees. Instead, potential borrowers were often led to high-cost and sometimes unfavorable loans that resulted in richer commissions for Countrywide’s smooth-talking sales force, outsize fees to company affiliates providing services on the loans, and a roaring stock price that made Countrywide executives among the highest paid in America.<\/p>\n

Countrywide’s entire operation, from its computer system to its incentive pay structure and financing arrangements, is intended to wring maximum profits out of the mortgage lending boom no matter what it costs borrowers, according to interviews with former employees and brokers who worked in different units of the company and internal documents they provided. One document, for instance, shows that until last September the computer system in the company’s subprime unit excluded borrowers’ cash reserves, which had the effect of steering them away from lower-cost loans to those that were more expensive to homeowners and more profitable to Countrywide.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More:<\/p>\n

In a mid-March interview on CNBC, Mr. Mozilo said Countrywide was poised to benefit from the spreading crisis in the mortgage lending industry. “This will be great for Countrywide,” he said, “because at the end of the day, all of the irrational competitors will be gone.”<\/p>\n

But Countrywide documents show that it, too, was a lax lender. For example, it wasn’t until March 16 that Countrywide eliminated so-called piggyback loans from its product list, loans that permitted borrowers to buy a house without putting down any of their own money. And Countrywide waited until Feb. 23 to stop peddling another risky product, loans that were worth more than 95 percent of a home’s appraised value and required no documentation of a borrower’s income.<\/p>\n

As recently as July 27, Countrywide’s product list Read more<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times on the Countrywide mess and how the company got there: ON its way to becoming the nation’s largest mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corporation encouraged its sales force to court customers over the telephone with a seductive pitch that seldom varied. “I want to be sure you are getting the best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-lending","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2272,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2272\/countrywide-bankruptcy-likely-not-while-the-feds-are-bailing-them-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":0},"title":"Countrywide Bankruptcy Likely? Not While the Feds Are Bailing Them Out","author":"Brian Brady","date":"November 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a Countrywide watcher. It's size and reach in mortgage loan origination is worthy of any mortgage originator's respect and admiration. I had a lot of confidence in Countrywide as it marched to becoming America's largest originator of home loans. I liked 'em so much that I had a piece\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16038,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/16038\/but-weve-got-to-have-some-regulation-how-else-are-insiders-going-to-get-their-mitts-onto-sweetheart-mortgage-deals\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":1},"title":"“But we’ve got to have some regulation!” How else are insiders going to get their mitts onto sweetheart mortgage deals?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Regulation is rent-seeking, Rotarian Socialist graft, and that's all it ever is. Who sold out the housing market? The regulators, of course. AP: Countrywide won influence with discounts. HousingWire: Investigation reveals Countrywide VIP program scope and influence. Bloomberg: Countrywide Used Loans For Favor With Fannie Mae, Report Says. I love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1810,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1810\/the-countrywide-federal-bailout-act-of-2008\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":2},"title":"The Countrywide Federal Bailout Act of 2008","author":"Brian Brady","date":"August 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever felt your stomach drop? I received an e-mail, from reader Robert Kerr today, asking if I had seen Merrill Lynch's downgrade of Countrywide Financial. Merrill Lynch believes that Countrywide might face bankruptcy. Make no mistake about it, a collapse of Countrywide Financial will give everybody in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3317,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3317\/farewell-countrywide-how-the-bank-of-america-merger-will-keep-wells-fargo-as-the-mortgage-origination-leader\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":3},"title":"Farewell Countrywide: How The Bank of America Merger Will Keep Wells Fargo As The Mortgage Origination Leader","author":"Brian Brady","date":"July 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"WARNING!\u00a0 Long commentary about the Bank of America\/ Countrywide merger ahead: Bank of America Press Release from July 1, 2008 (italicized) with my commentary: CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 1 \/PRNewswire\/ -- Bank of America Corporation today completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. to create the nation's leading mortgage originator and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2229,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2229\/what-really-caused-the-lender-meltdown-and-other-important-stuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":4},"title":"What REALLY Caused the Lender Meltdown and Other Important Stuff","author":"Russell Shaw","date":"November 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wall Street high finance folks who contrived a system to endlessly send money to lenders and reward them for making fraudulent loans got what they rewarded. Here are a few Letters to the Editor from Businessweek: The Heat On Angelo Mozilo Maria Bartiromo's interview of Angelo Mozilo (\"The heat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Realty Reality"","block_context":{"text":"Realty Reality","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/realty-reality\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1250,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1250\/a-farewell-to-arms-one-less-option\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":5},"title":"A Farewell to ARMs: One Less Option","author":"Brian Brady","date":"April 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Are Option ARMs the next casualty in the non prime mortgage meltdown war? Wall Street fired the shot heard 'round the world in the mortgage default war by demanding repurchases from subprime lenders. Lenders either closed their doors or waved the white flag and allowed the conquering army to annex\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}