Top 20 Wholesaler MILA Closes

MILA Inc., Mountlake Terrace, Wash., a top-20-ranked subprime wholesaler, closed its doors April 20, the apparent victim of loan buyback requests it could not afford.At deadline time, company chief executive and founder Layne Sapp could not be reached for comment. Last summer, rumors began to circulate that the company was receiving large buyback requests from some of its secondary-market investors. In an interview with National Mortgage News, Mr. Sapp confirmed that it had buyback requests but said the company could handle them. According to the Quarterly Data Report, MILA ranked 23rd among wholesale funders in the fourth quarter, originating $453 million through loan brokers, a 61% decline from the volume recorded in the same quarter in 2005. The company can be found online at http://www.mila.com.