UPDATE Orange County mortgage casualties

These are announced and reported mortgage and real estate-related layoffs at major Orange County mortgage companies that have been verified by the Register:

ACC Capital Holdings, Orange. Laid off an estimated 3,000 of the 6,000 employees at its Ameriquest Mortgage Co., Argent Mortgage Co.and AMC Mortgage Serviceson March 15. Reported 1,072 layoffs in Orange County as of June 22 to the EDD. Seven more cuts at Argent were reported to the EDD effective Oct. 30. Last year, the companies laid off more than 4,000 people.

Accredited Home Lenders,Irvine. Reported 66 layoffs effective Aug. 22.

Acoustic Home Loans, Orange. Closed in April 2006. Laid off 203 people.

Bank of America, Brea. The bank said Oct. 25 that it is getting out of the mortgage wholesale business and will eliminate about 700 jobs nationwide, including 100 or less at its Brea loan processing facility.

BNC Mortgage LLC, Irvine. Reported 94 layoffs to the EDD, effective Aug. 12.
Lehman Brothers announced Aug. 22 it was closing the unit laying off 1,200 nationwide, including 450 in Irvine. Lehman reported to the EDD it was laying off an additional 199 BNC workers in Cypress and 198 in Irvine by Oct. 22. (See also Lehman Brothers below.).

Citigroup Inc., Brea. Reported 77 layoffs to the EDD effective June. 29.

Countrywide Home Loans, Anaheim. Reported 59 layoffs in January to the EDD. On Sept. 7, the company announced it would lay off up to 12,000 more workers nationwide including 900 job cuts previously announced Sept. 5. The company reported that 95 layoffs in its Anaheim office would be effective Nov. 12.

Dana Capital Group, Irvine. The lender reportedly closed the first week of May. Layoffs unknown.

DB Home Lending LLC., Lake Forest. Notified EDD it laid off 85 people on Aug. 27.
Ditech.com, Costa Mesa. Reported 181 layoffs effective July 3 to the EDD. On Oct. 17, Residential Capital LLC, said it was going to lay off 2,500 to 3,000 people nationwide. About 120 jobs will be eliminated at Ditech.

ECC Capital, Irvine. Sold its mortgage operation to Bear Stearns in February but said it would keep its 350 local workers. The company laid off about 600 people nationwide last year.

Encore Credit, Irvine. In August, parent company Bear Stearns cut about 100 jobs at Encore, a subprime lender it bought from Irvine’s ECC Capital, and about 140 jobs at Bear Stearns Residential, dubbed Bear Res, in Scottsdale, Ariz. On Oct. 3, Bear Stearns said it will merge Encore Credit with Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage, eliminating 310 jobs. EDD reports that about 72 of those jobs were in Irvine. Bear Stearns announced Nov. 28 it would cut an additional 650 jobs nationwide. National Mortgage News reports about 100 were in Irvine. On Dec. 18, Bear Stearns announced it was shutting down its Irvine loan-making operations, eliminating the remaining 150 jobs.

Express Capital Lending, Newport Beach. Reported 36 layoffs March 30 to the EDD.

Fieldstone Mortgage Corp., Cypress. Reported 51 layoffs Aug. 3 to the EDD.

The First American Corp., Santa Ana. Announced Sept. 4 it would lay off 1,300 people nationwide in its title insurance unit. This follows 600 jobs cut in the second quarter. OrangeCounty job losses unknown.

First Fidelity Financial, Aliso Viejo. It shut down Dec. 12, eliminating five jobs. At its peak, the company employed about 12 people.

First NLC Financial Services LLC, Orange. Reported 113 layoffs to the EDD when its Lewis Street office in Orange closed in March. On Aug. 1, the company said 640 jobs would be cut nationwide, including 79 of 160 workers at its West Coast headquarters in Anaheim.

First Street Financial, Irvine. Ceased operations June 15. Layoffs unknown.

Flexpoint Funding, Irvine. Reportedly closed its wholesale unit in July. Layoffs unknown.

Fremont Investment & Loan, Brea. The company announced March 2 that it was exiting the subprime business after federal regulators issued a proposed cease and desist order. Reported 62 initial layoffs in Anaheim March 5 to the EDD. Additional reported layoffs in Anaheim and Brea brings total to 470 as of Aug. 6.

GreenPoint Mortgage, Irvine. Parent company Capital One announced Aug. 20 it would close its wholesale mortgage unit, laying off 1,900 nationwide, 68 in Santa Ana.

H&R Block Mortgage Corp., Irvine. Announced 50 layoffs May 17. The company reported 133 additional layoffs effective July 10 and 170 more effective Nov. 17 bringing the total to 353.

Home Loan Center Inc./Lending Tree Loans, Irvine. Reported 271 layoffs effective July 10 to the EDD. On Aug. 17, LendingTree announced 24 layoffs in Irvine. On Sept. 28, LendingTree said it was cutting 250 jobs. Of those, 174 will be eliminated in Irvine by Nov. 27. The company announced Dec. 13 an additional 220 would be laid off, mostly at its Irvine loan center. About 500 people remain.

Homeview Lending Inc., Lake Forest. Reported 97 layoffs March 16 to the EDD.

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Irvine. Announced May 9 that it laid off about 100 people out of about 800 in its workforce nationwide. On July 25, the company said it would lay off an additional 190 workers nationwide, including 43 in Orange County. More layoffs announced Aug. 22 –- 350 nationwide of which 270 are in California, mostly Irvine. On Sept. 18, the company said it was exiting most of its loan business. The company reported to the EDD that it would have 396 total layoffs in Irvine as of Nov. 10.

IndyMac Bancorp., Irvine. Announced 400 layoffs nationwide July 19 including 20 in Irvine. On Sept. 7, the company announced an additional1,000 jobs cuts. OrangeCountyimpact unknown

Lenders Direct Capital Corp., Lake Forest.Employees report the company closed Feb. 8. California Department of Real Estate records show the license is in non-working status, the company has no broker affiliation and that there is no current main office address. Total layoffs unknown.

Lehman Brothers, Irvine. The company announced 850 jobs cuts nationwide Sept. 6. (See BNC Mortgage above.)

Long Beach Mortgage Co., Anaheim. Parent company Washington Mutual confirmed Sept. 13 it is closing the former Anaheimheadquarters of Long Beach Mortgage and will lay off 155 people in 60 days. WaMu said it is cutting 1,000 jobs nationwide.

Master Financial Inc., Orange. Stopped lending March 14. Reported 50 Orange County layoffs to the EDD.

Morgan Stanley, Foothill Ranch. Announced Oct. 2 it would cut 600 jobs worldwide and consolidate its three mortgage businesses, Saxon Capital, Morgan Stanley Credit Corp. and Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings, in Irving, Tex. It said it would retain its regional operations in Foothill Ranch. OrangeCounty impact unknown.

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine. Filed for bankruptcy April 2. An initial 2,000 workers were laid off nationwide, including nearly 500 in Orange County. The company reported to EDD that as of May 4, it had laid off a total of 1,051 people in its Irvine and Santa Ana offices.

Novastar Mortgage Inc., Lake Forest. Reported 56 layoffs March 16 to the EDD. Announced Aug. 18 it would shut down its wholesale lending operation, laying off an additional 500 workers nationwide, including 170 in Lake Forest.

Opteum Financial Services, Foothill Ranch. Reported 130 layoffs as of June 23 to the EDD.

Option One, Irvine. Parent company H&R Block said in November that it would sell Option One and close 12 branches, none in Orange County. On May 16, it announced 615 layoffs nationwide, including 133 in Orange County. Aug. 1 an additional 185 cuts announced nationwide. Layoffs in Orange County unknown. Announced 575 more layoffs Sept. 11, 85 in OrangeCounty. On Dec. 4, H&R Block announced it is closing its loan origination business, cutting 620 jobs nationwide. Irvine job loss unknown.

People’s Choice Home Loan, Irvine. Filed bankruptcy March 20. Reported 242 layoffs effective May 22 to the EDD.

Quick Loan Funding, Costa Mesa. Owner Daniel Sadek told the Orange County Register in May that the company payroll had shrunk from 700 at its height to about 125 now. Employees reported the week of Aug. 13 that the subprime lender had closed its doors. The main phone number went unanswered. Sadek declined to answer questions. Total layoffs unknown.

ResMae Mortgage Corp., Brea. Filed bankruptcy Feb. 12, saying it would keep 800 out of 1,037 jobs. Reported 185 layoffs effective May 19 to the EDD. An additional 72 jobs will be eliminated by Nov. 18.

Washington Mutual, Irvine. The bank announced Dec. 13 it laid off 215 people at its Irvine loan center as part a restructuring of its home loans business.

Wells Fargo Bank, Irvine. The bank confirmed Oct. 25 that it will lay off 51 workers in its Home and Consumer Finance Group by Nov. 13.

WMC-GEMB Mortgage Corp., Costa Mesa. Reported 29 layoffs effective May 7 to the EDD.

WNC-GEMB Mortgage Corp., Costa Mesa. Reported 59 layoffs effective June 18 to the EDD.

source: ocregister.com