The tightening mortgage environment has forced Liberty Mortgage out of business. The Tampa based lender has been in trouble for the last couple of years and the recent downturn put the final nail in the coffin.
After a 5 year period of low interest rates and prosperous times, the mortgage industry is looking at tough period. Companies that have been marginal successes will most likely wash out during the coming months as they will be unable to withstand the slower times.
Liberty is among a handful of mortgage companies that have gone out of business as the housing market cools and the mortgage industry gets tighter.
MortgageDaily.com, an online news source for the mortgage industry, reported the closing in April and May of three large firms: San Francisco-based Capital Alliance Funding Corp.; QuoteMeARate.com., based in Houston; and Merit Financial Inc. in Kirkland, Wash. Dozens of other mortgage companies are “teetering on which way to go,” said Sam Garcia, editor of MortgageDaily.com.
Ameriquest, one of the nation’s largest subprime mortgage lenders, is restructuring and eliminating retail branch offices. Wachovia Corp.’s (NYSE: WB) planned $25.5 billion purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. (NYSE: GDW), the parent company of World Savings Bank, a major residential mortgage lender, is a sign of consolidation in the industry, Garcia said. via MSNBC.com.
