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PRESS RELEASE
Mortgage Meltdown Cools
DALLAS -- (April 2, 2008) /PRNewswire/ The pace of collapsing mortgage companies has slowed this year, according to data from http://www.MortgageGraveyard.com, a journal of failed, ailing and acquired lenders. Net branch operations are dominant among the latest victims.
During the first quarter, 22 mortgage companies have closed, according to the Mortgage Graveyard, which is maintained by http://www.MortgageDaily.com.
Companies tracked primarily included those that employed at least 50 people.
|
Year
|
Failed
Companies
|
Acquired
Companies
|
| 2008 1st quarter |
22
|
11
|
| 2007 |
148
|
42
|
| 2006 |
18
|
19
|
Among the most notable activity was Shearson Financial Network Inc., which temporarily discontinued all operations. Shearson's demise follows two years of rapid growth.
Merrill Lynch announced the closing of subprime subsidiary First Franklin Financial Corp.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. announced the liquidation of subsidiary First NLC Financial Services LLC.
Millennium Mortgage Corp., which in February said it planned to add 150 account executives by June, reported it suspended wholesale operations.
Downeast Mortgage Corp., which last year was presented with its second award from the Maine State Housing Authority for originating the most first-time homebuyer loans, is in the process of shutting down.
Global Mortgage Inc., which previously promoted itself as a haven for brokers looking to avoid collapsing companies, has itself collapsed.
First National Mortgage Sources, a 200-office net branch that previously billed itself as one of the fastest growing U.S. brokers, is being shut down by its parent.
"The pace of mortgage lending failures has slowed significantly this year," said Sam Garcia, founder of the Mortgage Graveyard and Publisher of MortgageDaily.com. "We are on track to see fewer than 90 companies collapse this year -- a big improvement over the 148 failures tracked during 2007."
Among a growing number of mergers announced was Bank of America's agreement to acquire Countrywide Financial Corp. in a deal expected to close during the third quarter. The combined company will likely originate around $450 billion annually -- more than any other U.S. lender.
A complete report of all failed companies is available at:
http://www.MortgageDaily.com/MortgageGraveyard.asp?spcode=pr
About MortgageDaily.com
Founded in 1998, MortgageDaily.com is a dominant online news source for the mortgage industry. Around one million mortgage business news pages are viewed monthly at MortgageDaily.com and its affiliate publications.
CONTACT:
Sam Garcia
214.521.1300
3811-700 Turtle Creek Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75219
Source: MortgageDaily.com
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