WaMu Cutting More Mortgage Jobs

Washington Mutual, which slashed its mortgage work force by 19% in February, has cut another 900 jobs overall.About 350 of the new layoffs are mortgage-related, a company spokeswoman told MortgageWire. Most of the mortgage cuts are tied to the lender's appraisal order and review process. "We're now going to use vendors for that," she said. Roughly 550 of the jobs come in WaMu's retail banking group. Employees were informed of the news on July 12. The Seattle-based Washington Mutual is the third-largest residential lender in the United States. In May, WaMu shuttered its traditional correspondent purchase channel. Over the past year or so, the thrift has been mentioned as a takeover target. WaMu can be found online at http://www.wamu.com.