I Have A Countrywide Mortgage, Or At Least I Think I Do
Countrywide, one of the nation’s leading single-family mortgage originators and servicers is having a tough day, week, month, year...... The company has been downgraded to a "sell" by Wall Street and they are having a tough time borrowing the money they need in order to fund new mortgages. There have been grumblings for months that Countrywide will be forced to declare bankruptcy but now those grumblings have grown into a growl and will soon be a roar.
If you have a mortgage from Countrywide, their possible bankruptcy filing should have no impact on you. Most likely your loan has already been sold to another lender. A majority of Countrywide’s mortgage loans are sold to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. About 36 percent of the loans go to Ginnie Mae, 48 percent to Fannie Mae, and the balance go to jumbo, nonconforming, and other investors. Countrywide typically retains the servicing rights to mortgages it sells in the secondary market.
The problem is going to be felt by all the people that have a closing date approaching and they were receiving their funding from Countrywide.
Tags: Countrywide : Mortgage : Bankruptcy
Comments
Rich:
We sincerely appreciate your reassuring words. We recently switched a HELOC from a variable rate at my credit union to a fixed-rate 2nd w/Countrywide. C'wide also holds our 1st.
So, we're hoping both loans are, as you suggest, already sold to more solvent agencies.
Is there a way a lowly consumer can determine if, indeed, our loans have been sold or not? And are we at risk if the loans aren't sold when CW goes BK? Thanks.
When you say CW will continue to "service" loans--
Posted by: Richard | August 16, 2007 2:43 PM
As a consumer you shouldn't be too concerned about your mortgage being sold to a secondary provider. When your mortgage is sold, you probably will not be notified. If your lender sells the servicing of your loan, they are required to notify you in writing about the transfer. You can read this article which gives a good overview.
Posted by: Rich | August 16, 2007 3:36 PM