Paul Tharp writes in the New York Post yesterday on the plight of Countrywide Home Loan stock price taking a beating while the CEO, Mr. Angelo Mozilo, cashes in stock options worth more than $118 million! Anytime the executives start cashing out, you know there’s trouble.

Ditech Mortgage owned by GMAC Mortgage, is famous for their schlocky TV ads with a fat loan officer who always loses clients (even his own mother in one) saying, “Lost another loan to Ditech”.

These same ads pummel the viewer with the misleading, but very enticing $395 Flat Fee idea.

Wells Fargo Mortgage is a subsidiary of a Federally chartered depositor bank which merged with Norwest Bank in 1998 an has become the second largest mortgage originator.

Wells Fargo Mortgage is part of the $40 Billion Wells Fargo Bank mega-company that once again has been a darling of stock brokers and mutual fund managers for over two decades. It is no accident Wells Fargo has had incredible stock price appreciation mainly due to their mortgage operation.

Lenox Financial Mortgage is known for their ever-present radio campaigns touting “no cost” refinancing and is the prime example of what I call “deceptive or incomplete” advertising.

Refer to my article, “No Closing Cost Mortgage Advertising Is a Lie” to see how Lenox Financial and others pull the wool over the eyes of the average mortgage consumer.

Mortgage stock prices are dropping like a stone creating a huge profit opportunity. I wrote a post 10 months ago on my ActiveRain blog showing folks how to “short” mortgage stocks to bank these profits.

Since then a most mortgage stock prices have literally freefallen. Right after that post, Novastar’s stock (symbol: NFI) dropped 40% in one day down to about $15 a share. Today Novastar has dropped even further down to $2.08 another 60%.

Countrywide Loans are the biggest mortgage lender and yet they are under serious scrutiny. Countrywide Loans are rumored to be under investigation on stock sales and on the verge of collapse.

Countrywide Loans are owned by parent company Countrywide Financial Corporation, a NYSE traded company under the symbol CFC. The mortgage division consisting of Countrywide Home Loans and Full Spectrum Lending, their subprime lending arm, which makes up to almost 70% of the revenue for the company.

ELoan Mortgage bailed out on the subprime market about a year ago. Back then ELoan Mortgage was the first of many lenders to turn their backs on the subprime borrower.

As I predicted a few posts back, the bruised credit borrower would be left out in the cold the minute the big boys figured out the subprime loans they pushed so feverishly just 18 months ago are ticking time bombs ready to explode.

The servicing mortgage company is the company to whom you make your payments. The servicing mortgage banks prey on your erroneous belief you can save time and money refinancing with them.

Refinancing with your current servicing mortgage company gives absolutely no cost or time savings!

But they know, you don’t know that.

A Good Faith Estimate is a legally required mortgage document showing costs, rate, and payment. Believing the Good Faith Estimate reflects truthful, accurate, and guaranteed figures is folly.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Good Faith Estimate is manipulated by the loan officer low balling the costs and rate morphing it from a mortgage disclosure into a selling tool. It does not reflect real mortgage rates or actual closing costs.

Mortgage rate sheets are a godsend when it comes to keeping loan officers honest. The mortgage rate sheets tell the tale when you are quoted an inflated rate.