August 2007 could be considered one of the worst months in U.S. mortgage lending history.

In addition to worldwide financial jitters sparked by liquidity concerns at Countrywide Financial Corp. and the potential collapse of Option One Mortgage Corp., the month saw thousands of layoffs and the failure of several more mortgage operations.

But not all the news was bad.

IndyMac Bank F.S.B. confirmed it has hired hundreds of former American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. employees and may hire hundreds more.

Shore Mortgage announced it is recruiting 150 new employees including underwriters, account executives and loan officers.

And the owners and executives of bankrupt First Magnus Financial Corp. have established a $1 million fund for some of its nearly 6,000 laid off employees.

Most Popular	Closed Down	Layoffs
The Mortgage Crisis of 2007 As several firms warned about earnings and liquidity, Countrywide Financial Corp. touted its cash position. The lending giant was one of two companies this week to negotiate a mortgage lending acquisition essentially at a purchase price of nothing. Riskiest Mortgage Lenders The rapid succession of mortgage banking failures is nearing an end, according to a new study. Another Alt-A Operator Out MortgageDaily.com has confirmed the demise of yet another Alt-A lender. The California wholesaler said the level of its originations was in a downward spiral. Hard Money Wholesaler Bankrupt A hard money lender has filed for bankruptcy protection but continues to operate. Alt-A Programs Quickly Diminish The secondary market is forcing nonconforming wholesalers to shift their efforts to conforming business that can be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Several Alt-A programs were curtailed this week. Fieldstone Halts New Business Following Monday's disclosure of its new parent's potential insolvency, Fieldstone Mortgage Co. has stopped accepting new applications. National Branch Operation to Close A national mortgage company that operated as many as 149 branches will be closed down by its parent. Mortgage Employee Exodus Mortgage jobs continue to decline and are headed even lower. Despite Devastation, Some Firms Grow Despite a turbulent market that has devastated subprime lenders -- as well as the funds that had been investing in the riskiest slices of subprime mortgage securities, one company sees opportunities in buying the loans. Another mortgage firm continues to grow with the acquisition of mortgage branches in three states. GreenPoint Shuts Down Capital One Financial Corp. is closing its wholesale lending subsidiary. August 2007 Archives	1st National Bank Holding Co. (wholesale ops) Aegis Mortgage Corp. (originations) American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. (originations) Amstar Mortgage Corp. Bay Finance Co. BNC Mortgage LLC Chevy Chase Bank (correspondent ops) Choice Capital Funding CIT Home Lending Deutsche Bank (correspondent unit) Express Capital Lending (halted new business Aug. 2007) First Indiana Corp. (wholesale ops) First Magnus Financial Corp. GreenPoint Mortgage MLSG Home Loans (wholesale ops) Mylor Financial National City (wholesale home equity unit) Pacific American Mortgage Co. Regions Financial Corp. (warehouse lending operation) Saxon Mortgage (correspondent ops) Silver State Mortgage Transnational Financial Network Inc. (wholesale ops) WinStar Mortgage Partners Inc. W.J. Bradley Co. (wholesale ops) The Mortgage Graveyard Journal of failed, ailing and acquired lenders.	Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. is laying off more than 1,000 people American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. has laid off most of its staff of more than 7,000 Bear Stearns Companies Inc. to layoff hundreds of mortgage employees Countrywide Financial Corp. laid off more than 500 subprime employees Countrywide Financial Corp. cut its wholesale subprime workforce Delta Financial Corp. fires 20% of staff Equifirst wouldn't release the number of people it recently laid off First NLC Financial Services has laid off almost half of its staff HSBC Finance Corp. plans to close down an Indiana mortgage operation -- leaving the office's 600 employees unsure about their future. Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. cut hundreds of jobs NovaStar Financial Inc. cut more than one-third of its workforce Option One Mortgage Corp. is eliminating jobs in Texas SunTrust wouldn't elaborate on how many of its announced 2,400 layoffs were mortgage jobs The parent of Option One Mortgage Corp. warned about more employee layoffs Mortgage Employment News Articles about mortgage job additions, layoffs and employment lawsuits. Monthly mortgage sector employment news from the Department of Labor. Best mortgage employers to work for. Employment archives back to 2002.

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