Countrywide Proposes To Refinance Or Restructure Up To $16 Billion In Loans

Reuters reports:

• Countrywide Financial Corp , the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday offered to refinance or restructure up to $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages through the end of 2008. The lender said its program may help about 82,000 borrowers who face higher payments stay in their homes. It announced the program as pressure mounts on the mortgage industry from politicians and consumer groups worried about rising foreclosures to clean up lending excesses, and make only home loans that consumers can afford in the first place.

For more, see Countrywide to modify $16 billion mortgages.

Recent political pressure in the form of proposed bankruptcy law changes that would force lenders to accept loan modifications in connection with homeowners filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy (see More On Proposed "Forced Mortgage Modifications" In Chapter 13 Bankruptcy) may be having an influence on Countrywide's position. The recent Countrywide protests by consumer activists may also be having an effect (go here for Countrywide under attack). The proposed Federal class action lawsuit against Countrywide alleging race discrimination might also be contributing (or could it be that Countrywide is just posturing to take the heat off?). countrywide pressure zebra

Countrywide Financial Boycott Goes National

The Boston Herald reports:

• Mortgage activist Bruce Marks yesterday unleashed a “national boycott” targeting Countrywide Financial, a campaign that comes as the giant mortgage company teeters financially. Marks, chief executive of Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, led dozens of protesters, many of them Countrywide borrowers facing foreclosure on high-interest, subprime loans, on protests outside three company offices in Boston. [...] “The reason we are going after Countrywide is that they are the biggest, the most aggressive and the most resistant to restructuring loans,” Marks said.

For more, see Activist group moves to push national Countrywide boycott.

See also, Countrywide Is Assailed in Protest of Policies (New York Times - 10-12-07), - "Thursday’s protest was the second this week organized by a borrower advocacy group and aimed at Countrywide. On Tuesday, ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, organized a protest in eight cities."

(The community activist group ACORN demonstrated outside Countrywide's San Bruno, California office earlier ths week - see Bay Area Activists Protest Outside Countrywide Financial (Say Company Not Helping Enough)). countrywide pressure zebra

Countrywide Financial Running For Cover - Hires Public Relations Firm To Overcome Bad Press

Blogging Stocks reports:

• After being savaged in The New York Times for dubious lending practices, announcing it will lay-off 12,000 people, and watching its stock price fall from over $45 to $20, Countrywide Financial is hiring a PR firm.

(Not to mention Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo pulling down a $142 million/year paycheck last year.)

For more, see Countrywide hires a PR firm.

For the recent New York Times articles on Countrywide Financial, see:

• Can These Mortgages Be Saved? (if link expired, try here),
• Enron’s Second Coming? (if link expired, try here).

See also:

• Reuters - Countrywide PR bid to revive image may be struggle.
• Salon Magazine - Countrywide puts lipstick on the pig.
• Wall Street Journal - Countrywide Tells Workers, 'Protect Our House'.
• See a script of Countrywide's telephone conference call exhorting internal "opinion leaders" to help repair its image. countrywide pressure zebra

Countrywide Locks Its Doors As Housing Activists Protest Outside Its Offices

KGO-TV Channel 7 (San Francisco, California) reports:

• Bay Area homeowners barely hanging on because of the mortgage crisis, turned-up on the doorstep of one of the country's biggest lenders on Tuesday. They claim that with interest rates soaring Countrywide Financial is doing very little to help them keep their homes. The community activist group ACORN demonstrated outside Countrywide's San Bruno office. Countrywide responded by locking its doors. [...] Late on Tuesday Countrywide sent a response to ABC7 by saying: "Its concerned with the rising levels of delinquencies and foreclosures." They also said they are not only responding to customers, they are also reaching out to borrowers in distress. But lenders often have no authority to rework a loan by themselves. Most mortgages today are packaged and sold to investors on Wall Street in a process called securitization.

For more, see Bay Area Activists Protest Outside Countrywide Financial (Say Company Not Helping Enough). countrywide pressure zebra

Countrywide Financial Under Attack Again

In Boston, Massachusetts, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reports:

• Over 150 activists with the JP-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) and the Massachusetts Coalition to Stop Predatory Lenders descended on Countrywide Financial’s Centre Street offices Thursday to declare a boycott against the national lender. Over 50 of the activists entered the 708 Centre St. office, where NACA Executive Director Bruce Marks announced the boycott through a bullhorn.

For more, see Rally kicks off boycott of lender.

See also, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America Press Release. countrywide pressure zebra