Foreclosures Soar 149% at Countrywide

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., had a 1.27% foreclosure rate on its servicing portfolio at the end of September, a 149% increase from that of the same period last year.According to September operational figures released by the company, Countrywide serviced $1.459 trillion worth of loans at Sept. 30, which means $18.5 billion worth of mortgages it services are in the "foreclosures pending" category. Roughly 5.85% of its servicing portfolio is delinquent. Countrywide funded $21 billion in loans in September, a 44% decline from the level recorded in September 2006. It also saw its employee headcount fall by 4,935 during the month, most of it, presumably, due to layoffs. The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.