Mortgage Casualties Fall as Fewer Financial Institutions Fail

DALLAS, July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of mortgage-related businesses to fail or close down during the first six months of this year is down by more than a quarter from the same point in 2011. Despite an increase in mortgage bankers to call it quits, including some high-profile firms, fewer banks and credit unions are failing.

During the second quarter, the demise of 25 mortgage-related entities was tracked in the Mortgage Graveyard from Mortgage Daily.

Compared to the first half of last year, the first-half 2012 total was down 30 percent thanks to a more than one-third decline in bank failures and a one-half reduction in the number of credit unions to go down.

But mortgage bankers to close their doors have grown by 30 percent.

Also ending operations was Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. after parent Morgan Stanley sold the subsidiary's assets to Ocwen Financial Corp.

Since the end of the second quarter, Montgomery Bank & Trust was closed down by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The failure of the Ailey, Ga., bank came less than two weeks after the Department of Justice announced the indictment of one of the bank's directors who is accused of embezzling $17 million and hasn't been seen since reportedly telling acquaintances that he planned to kill himself.

During the three months ended May 31, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Comptroller of the Currency issued a combined 246 regulatory orders against banks, climbing from 221 orders issued in the three months ended Feb. 29. The increase suggests that the third quarter could see an uptick in bank failures.

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