TRACKING FAILURE

Nearly 150 U.S. mortgage lenders have shut down in the last year, according to Mortgage Daily’s MortgageGraveyard.com , a chronicle of failed companies. Companies tracked are those that employ at least 50 people. In 2006 there were 18 failures; so far this year there have been seven. Among last year’s most notable failures were American Home Mortgage Investment, Mortgage Lenders Network USA, New Century Financial and Option One Mortgage Corp. Other significant collapses included Ameriquest Mortgage, Fieldstone Investment and First Magnus Financial. “The subprime mortgage industry, which took decades to develop, was mostly dismantled over the past year,” says Sam Garcia, who spent 20 years in subprime mortgage lending prior to becoming publisher of Mortgage Daily in 2000. “Surviving lenders are primarily originating conforming loans through their own employees.”

Source: Mortgage Daily (01/22/08)
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