{"id":3317,"date":"2008-07-02T12:19:14","date_gmt":"2008-07-02T19:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=3317"},"modified":"2008-07-02T12:19:14","modified_gmt":"2008-07-02T19:19:14","slug":"farewell-countrywide-how-the-bank-of-america-merger-will-keep-wells-fargo-as-the-mortgage-origination-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3317\/farewell-countrywide-how-the-bank-of-america-merger-will-keep-wells-fargo-as-the-mortgage-origination-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell Countrywide: How The Bank of America Merger Will Keep Wells Fargo As The Mortgage Origination Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING!\u00a0 Long commentary about the Bank of America\/ Countrywide merger ahead:<\/p>\n

Bank of America Press Release from July 1, 2008<\/a> (italicized<\/em>) with my commentary:<\/p>\n

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 servicer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bank of America will focus on responsible home lending, serving as a reliable source of mortgages for the American consumer. Bank of America also will assist new and existing customers with selecting the right product to meet their needs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bank of America fires a proactive shot with this statement to exempt its originators from proposed national registration and licensing<\/a>.\u00a0 I think they’ll get the exemption.\u00a0 I predicted that the merger\/rescue of CFC would be brokered by Ben Bernanke<\/a> and that BAC would call in its chit, one day.\u00a0 Expect BAC to lead the borrower suitability trend.\u00a0 By setting itself up as the “leader” they can effectively eliminate competition by crying that the “innovative mortgage products” just aren’t suitable for Ma and Pa.\u00a0 This paternalistic approach will work for the next 2-3 years and BAC will have an unfair competitive advantage by fiat….but, they’ll blow it.<\/p>\n

“Mortgages are one of the three main cornerstone consumer financial products along with deposits and credit cards,” said Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis. “This purchase significantly increases Bank of America’s market share in consumer real estate, and as our companies combine, we believe Bank of America will benefit from excellent systems and a broad distribution network that will offer more ways to meet our customers’ credit needs.”<\/em><\/p>\n

BA management are bankers, not mortgage bankers.\u00a0 It helps that mortgage bankers are a profession akin to drug dealers and pimps today.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Public perception will be that the mortgage bankers blew up the economy and that the bankers can save it.\u00a0 Wells Fargo (a mortgage banking firm DISGUISED as a bank) will quietly steal MORE market share in the retail and wholesale mortgage origination market.<\/p>\n

As previously announced in April, Bank of America plans to offer the following types of first-lien mortgages: conforming loans underwritten to standard guidelines of Read more<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 servicer. Bank of America will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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":[5],"tags":[188,187,189],"class_list":{"0":"post-3317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-real-estate","7":"tag-bank-of-america","8":"tag-countrywide","9":"tag-wells-fargo","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2485,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2485\/buying-countrywide-why-bank-of-america-is-the-wrong-buyer\/","url_meta":{"origin":3317,"position":0},"title":"Buying Countrywide: Why Bank of America is the WRONG Buyer","author":"Brian Brady","date":"January 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Countrywide (CFC) has been acquired by Bank of America. This should come as no surprise to Bloodhound readers; we discovered the weakness at CFC last Spring and speculated about the price last Summer. Robert Kerr, Matt Heaton, and Bob Wilson, all Bloodhound readers, tipped me off to conjecture, asked all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8270,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8270\/stress-tests-and-wells-fargo-a-tin-foil-hat-production\/","url_meta":{"origin":3317,"position":1},"title":"Stress Tests and Wells Fargo: A Tin Foil Hat Production","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"May 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Today the Fed releases the results of the banking industry \"stress test.\"\u00a0 You remember this test right?\u00a0 The Fed created a scenario of economic failure well beyond what is already the worst economic downturn in seventy years.\u00a0 They then evaluate the banks' ability to withstand this Armageddon against the Fed's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7344,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/7344\/the-subprime-bank-of-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":3317,"position":2},"title":"The Subprime Bank of America","author":"Brian Brady","date":"March 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember those impetuous, ne'er do well subprime borrowers and those greedy subprime lenders?\u00a0 Writing about them is sooo... 2007 but I'm happy to report that both greed and reckless abandon are alive and well today.... ...at Bank of America. Remember Ken Lewis?\u00a0 He's that sober-faced, bespectacled CEO of the Charlotte-based\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":2787,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2787\/bear-stearns-employees-wake-up-to-tenuous-employment-prospects\/","url_meta":{"origin":3317,"position":3},"title":"Bear Stearns Employees Wake Up To Tenuous Employment Prospects","author":"Brian Brady","date":"March 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Bear Stearns employees will wake up on St. Patrick's Day and wonder about their future. JP Morgan Chase bought Bear Stearns, a venerable Wall Street institution, for about 2.5% of the firm's stated book value. The sales price was just 20% of the value of the Manhattan headquarters alone. How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5900,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5900\/investor-sues-to-block-mortgage-modifications\/","url_meta":{"origin":3317,"position":4},"title":"Investor\u00a0Sues to Block Mortgage Modifications","author":"Tom Vanderwell","date":"December 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The battle over the mass modifications of troubled mortgages has begun in earnest. 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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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3317","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}