Mortgage Industry of 2005 in Review

Countrywide Financial Corp. was the biggest residential lender of 2005 with over $500 billion in production. No other company came within $100 billion of the giant mortgage company.

The second place lender was Wells Fargo & Co., which produced a paltry $366 billion in fundings for 2005. Though the numbers have not yet been tallied, Washington Mutual will probably be the number three place holder slightly behind Wells Fargo. The closing of last year also saw the closing of nonprime operation American Mortgage. Market conditions led to the reduction of the subprime department which will result in the layoff of 94 employees. On the heels of this announcement, HomeView Lending Inc. has opened a wholesale department, which will offer subprime Alt-A and Option ARM products into the market.

Ocwen Financial was hit with an $11.5 million verdict for forcing a woman out of her childhood home. Though Ocwen has vowed to fight the decision, this verdict could be the largest loss so far for the lender. The year of 2005 was also the year of cracking down on fraudulent trade practices for mortgage companies, as a Colorado company found out. The company advertised lending to borrowers with distressed credit, then used �bait and switch� techniques along with withholding information and confusing borrowers with an overabundance of paperwork to hide their practices.

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