Countrywide laying off loan-origination staff: WSJ
By MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:46 PM ET Aug 19, 2007SAN FRANICSCO (MarketWatch) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., reducing costs as part of its effort to weather a credit crunch, has begun laying off employees involved in originating loans, according to a media report Sunday.
The layoffs occurred in the company's Full Spectrum Lending unit, which handles many home mortgages in a category known as Alt-A, or mortgages between prime and subprime that often involve borrowers who don't document their income, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, citing a Countrywide (CFCCountrywide Financial Corp
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CFC) internal email. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).
The email, sent to employees Friday by a Full Spectrum senior official, discussed layoffs made that day but didn't specify the number, the Journal reported.
The company as a whole employs about 61,000 people and had a sales force of about 6,800 in Full Spectrum out of a total loan-origination sales force of about 18,000 as of June 30, the Journal reported, citing a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Less than two weeks ago, Countrywide said it was hiring more loan officers from rivals forced to close down, the Journal said, but the company now is expected to reduce sharply its lending and costs because investor anxiety over rising defaults has made it almost impossible for lenders to sell many types of loans now deemed too risky. |
