Red skies in morning, sailors

Red skies in morning, sailors take warning Several mortgage lenders have closed their doors in recent weeks after investors withdrew funding or demanded that they repurchase bad loans. The defunct (and mostly subprime) lenders include Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc. , Sebring Capital Partners , and Harbourton Mortgage Investment Corp.

If those developments didn't make waves outside of the industry, today's news that Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. is in trouble will. The Connecticut-based lender employs 1,800 people nationwide, originating and servicing Alt-A and nonconforming loans.

MLN, which services more than $14 billion in loans and had set a goal of originating $12.1 billion in loans in 2006, broke ground on a new corporate headquarters in May and had plans to expand in Phoenix, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Although the company's not returning calls from reporters today, the Associated Press says MLN has stopped funding loans and accepting applications for new loans. MLN chief president and chief executive officer Mitch Heffernan on Dec. 8 tried to dispel rumors that the company was facing financial difficulties.
--Matt Carter, Inman News

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.