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Charlotte-based Bank of America announced Monday it has retired the name of Countywide Financial Corp., the image-challenged and troubled subsidiary it acquired last July 1.
"Our own market studies saw a shift in consumer sentiment," said Barbara Desoer, president of the banking giant's new mortgage brand: Bank of America Home Loans. "A lot of what showed up in research," she said, "was that as a consumer 'I want to deal with a brand where I have trust and confidence.'"
Calabaas-based Countrywide Financial Corp., which rose from a once-staid lender to a high-flying operation that fueled the nation's housing boom with subprime and adjustable-rate loans, had become a symbol of the era's excesses before and after Bank of America bought it last year. Thousands of its customers in California and elsewhere are now seeking loan modifications or have lost their homes to foreclosure.
Monday, seven Countrywide offices in Sacramento, two in Roseville and one each in Elk Grove and Folsom opened as Bank of America Home Loan centers, bank executives said.
Sacramento-area mortgage holders making payments to Countrywide will need to take no action as a result of the change, said Desoer in a conference call with reporters Monday.
"All statements will be re-branded to Bank of America effective today, and our Web sites have become merged," she said.
During the riskiest period of the Sacramento housing market's rise and fall - June 2005 to June 2007 - Countrywide was the biggest mortgage lender in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to La Jolla researcher MDA DataQuick.
The lender held a 7.75 percent market share with a large portfolio of risky adjustable-rate mortgages that enabled people to buy the region's high-priced homes, but quickly trapped them when values fell and blocked them from refinancing.
Altogether, as the housing boom peaked and receded from 2004 through 2008, Countrywide made 68,421 home loans in the region valued at $14.6 billion, according to DataQuick. The average loan amount was $213,917. The loan firm also had relationships with home builders, serving as the in-house lender for Los Angeles-based KB Home, one of the nation's biggest publicly traded builders and one of the Sacramento region's sales leaders.
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"Our own market studies saw a shift in consumer sentiment," said Barbara Desoer, president of the banking giant's new mortgage brand: Bank of America Home Loans. "A lot of what showed up in research," she said, "was that as a consumer 'I want to deal with a brand where I have trust and confidence.'"
Calabaas-based Countrywide Financial Corp., which rose from a once-staid lender to a high-flying operation that fueled the nation's housing boom with subprime and adjustable-rate loans, had become a symbol of the era's excesses before and after Bank of America bought it last year. Thousands of its customers in California and elsewhere are now seeking loan modifications or have lost their homes to foreclosure.
Monday, seven Countrywide offices in Sacramento, two in Roseville and one each in Elk Grove and Folsom opened as Bank of America Home Loan centers, bank executives said.
Sacramento-area mortgage holders making payments to Countrywide will need to take no action as a result of the change, said Desoer in a conference call with reporters Monday.
"All statements will be re-branded to Bank of America effective today, and our Web sites have become merged," she said.
During the riskiest period of the Sacramento housing market's rise and fall - June 2005 to June 2007 - Countrywide was the biggest mortgage lender in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to La Jolla researcher MDA DataQuick.
The lender held a 7.75 percent market share with a large portfolio of risky adjustable-rate mortgages that enabled people to buy the region's high-priced homes, but quickly trapped them when values fell and blocked them from refinancing.
Altogether, as the housing boom peaked and receded from 2004 through 2008, Countrywide made 68,421 home loans in the region valued at $14.6 billion, according to DataQuick. The average loan amount was $213,917. The loan firm also had relationships with home builders, serving as the in-house lender for Los Angeles-based KB Home, one of the nation's biggest publicly traded builders and one of the Sacramento region's sales leaders.
More...