Loan giant Countrywide Home Loans will close Sunrise office, lay off 91
By Paul Owers
Business Writer
Posted December 1 2005
Countrywide Home Loans said late Wednesday it's closing an office in Sunrise and laying off 91 workers.
The Calabasas, Calif.-based company, a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., cited an industrywide slowdown in loan applications as one reason for the move, which becomes effective Jan. 31.
A similar office in California is closing as well, but the company insists that it's still growing. It employs 54,000 people worldwide and said in a statement it wants to nearly double its work force to about 100,000 people by the end of the decade.
Countrywide has other offices in South Florida, although spokesman Rick Simon couldn't provide a number. The company is offering job-placement services to the Sunrise workers and said that it expects many will find positions elsewhere within the organization.
Countrywide also has operations in Jacksonville and recently bought a two-building campus in Tampa.
"We have a pretty heavy presence in Florida," Simon said.
Mortgage applications nationwide declined for the fifth time in six weeks as fewer homeowners refinanced, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in a release Wednesday.
The group's index of applications fell 1.8 percent last week to 624.1, the lowest since Jan. 7, from 635.4. Refinancing has dipped 22 percent in the past 12 months, removing a source of cash for consumers as rising mortgage rates make it less beneficial for homeowners to tap into home equity.
"The housing market is slowing moderately," said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co.
Aside from the decline in loan applications, Countrywide said it wants to emphasize its regional operations centers while at the same time reducing central processing units, including the Sunrise office. |
