Must-read mortgage and housing links for today.
Posts Tagged ‘WAMU’
Banks Aren’t Lending Enough Because Their Lawyers Get All The Money
I should have listened to my mom and become a lawyer. As WaMu was collapsing in 2008, the FDIC brokered a good deal whereby they seized WaMu then JP Morgan Chase bought it for $1.9b. But the speedy two-day deal now leaves a giant question: who should cover billions in WaMu legal liabilities? Chase says [...]
A Brief, Non-Technical Summary Of The Financial Crisis
The financial crisis that began in August 2007 and continues today (October 2009) has—at least for now—brought consumer banking back to “savings and loan” basics. Up to the 1980s, before loan securitization found its footing, consumer banking was community focused, bank reps knew their clients’ current and projected finances intimately, and funded home loans from [...]
Indymac to Be Bought by US Bank? GMAC Receives Banking Charter.
After failing and being seized by the FDIC earlier this year, Indymac is now on the block to be bought within 90 days. The FDIC has taken on the role of investment bank as the bank failures mount. After the Indymac failure depleted the FDIC fund, FDIC head Sheila Bair took on a new approach, [...]
Paying Points Doesn’t Pay Right Now, FHA Loan Limits, Retail Sales & PPI Results
The economy is pretty bad right now. Yesterday I was putting a foreclosed sign on my house, and while I was doing that, another guy came by and repossessed my car. Did someone mention cars? Stock markets overnight got hammered after the Senate rejected the automaker bailout plan, and our stocks markets are expected to [...]
FDIC To Let Qualified Non-Financial Firms Bid On Troubled Banks
Twenty-two banks have failed so far in 2008. After Indymac failed in July, which was the largest of the year at that time, the FDIC saw that their reserves for taking over failing banks were going to disappear in a hurry. So they started acting as investment bank of sorts by brokering deals where they’d [...]
Downey Savings Seized by FDIC, Sold to US Bank. Customer Loans, Deposits Safe
Downey Financial, a Newport CA based savings and loan, was seized by the FDIC Friday and sold to US Bank in a deal the FDIC brokered. As of October 22, Downey’s loans no longer collecting interest were 15.7 percent of bank assets. Most of these bad loans were from their portfolio of about $7 billion [...]
WAMU To Cut 1600 Bay Area Jobs
After being taken over by the FDIC and sold to JP Morgan Chase for $1.9b, WAMU announced that it is closing its Pleasanton campus and cutting about 1600 jobs in the Bay Area: The bank’s East Bay call center, where roughly 1,200 workers answer customer inquiries about credit cards and consumer banking, will close by [...]
Wells Muscles Out Citi, Will Pay $15.1b for Wachovia, No FDIC Involvement
On Monday night Wells Fargo was in first position to acquire Wachovia. Then on Tuesday morning, it turned out that Citigroup would pay $2.16 billion for the bulk of Wachovia, including five depository institutions, and assume its senior and subordinated debt. Wachovia would retain ownership of its retail brokerage unit, AG Edwards, and its asset-management [...]
FDIC Head Sheila Bair’s Growing Role In The Crisis
Who says investment banking is deal. The new deal brokers on The Street are the Fed, Treasury and, increasingly, the FDIC. Under Sheila Bair, the FDIC’s role in the credit crunch is getting larger and larger. When Indymac went down, it caused great concern that the FDIC’s industry-funded deposit insurance fund would quickly be depleted [...]
