LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The mortgage lender calling itself No. 1 in the United States is reported facing widespread credit worries and maybe even bankruptcy.
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., which made 1 of every 6 U.S. home loans in the U.S. in the first half of this year, says the company became a top mortgage lender by being smarter than the competition.
Mozilo denounced those he said shoveled out too many loans, too easily, to too many people with bad credit, heavy debt and skimpy income, the Los Angeles Times said. Never happened to him in 53 years, he boasted.
But, Countrywide now is battling not just its own growing defaults but also a widening credit crunch stemming from the nationwide sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
A report Wednesday said the company was having trouble borrowing money on a short-term basis and securities analysts discussed the possibility of a Countrywide bankruptcy.
The firm’s stock price tumbled 13 percent, bringing its loss for the year to 50 percent.
Countrywide employs 61,500 people.
