Argent Mortgage, the nation's largest subprime wholesaler, on Monday trimmed 15% of its work force (600 positions), citing a "challenging economic environment" in the industry.Mortgage officials told MortgageWire about the layoffs, and the company confirmed the job cuts late Monday. A company spokesman could offer no details about the job cuts, but most were believed to be production-related. Back in November Argent's affiliate, Ameriquest Mortgage, laid off 10% of its workers (800 positions). Both units are based in Orange, Calif. The mortgage lending industry as a whole -- prime and subprime alike -- is suffering from slim profit margins and reduced loan volumes. A few days before the Argent layoff, its parent company, ACC Capital Holdings, agreed to pay $325 million to settle claims with 49 states that Ameriquest Mortgage had engaged in abusive lending practices. Argent was not a party to the settlement.
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Ohio-based Liberty Home Mortgage joins several companies who started using a more modernized FICO credit score for nonconforming mortgage originations recently.
11h ago -
The CFPB has dissolved the Office of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending and eliminated the job of associate director in a move that impacts how it designates nonbanks for supervision.
April 17 -
The plan that the Federal Housing Finance Agency floated calls for Freddie Mac to actively invest in some new closed-end seconds as cash-out refinancing subsides.
April 17 -
The push comes amid what one expert highlighted as lax funding efforts for two Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs.
April 17 -
Conventional lending drove volumes higher, particularly in the purchase market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
April 17 -
Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.
April 16