I see no problem with going foward with this.Should Countrywide stop rewarding those that help them "try" and turn a profit? And please don't tell me these "correspondents" are the cause of mortgage industry ills...

Countrywide is being bought by Bank of America, whose corporate culture is much more straitlaced. If I were a shareholder in countrywide I wouldn't be too happy to know that my dividend was cut just so managers of correspondent banks could go on a luxury ski trip.

Maybe they just didn't like the 'downhill' picture this painted. LOL

mfbenson: "Countrywide is being bought by Bank of America, whose corporate culture is much more straitlaced. If I were a shareholder in countrywide I wouldn't be too happy to know that my dividend was cut just so managers of correspondent banks could go on a luxury ski trip."

Exactly....as it is simply more of the same type of thinking that got them into this boat to begin with....its just too bad they had to drag so many down with them.

As Sen. Chuck Shumer said: "Let me get this straight: Countrywide is too cash-strapped to prevent layoffs, refinance borrowers or ward off bankruptcy without help from Bank of America, but it can afford a posh junket for its co-conspirators in the subprime mess? This brings new meaning to 'snow job.' "

Ok, Countrywide is the ONLY company that provides "perks", bonuses, etc while struggling? Doubtful..Just about every company does such in good times and bad..

That is one of the benefits to being successful in sales. I've been on a couple company sponsored trips myself. Goals are an important motivational factor for all companies, especially when morale is low.

blue velvet elvis: "Goals are an important motivational factor for all companies, especially when morale is low."

Yes they are...however, it is only a smart business practice IF the money exists to do so.

Funny how some have blamed the borrowers for buying homes that they did not have the money to pay for...but when those lenders who snookered them into the predatory deals then start spending huge amounts of money that they (the lenders) don't have on over the top luxury... excuses abound.

No surprise. However, at least this time, they did not get away with it....

"Ok, Countrywide is the ONLY company that provides "perks", bonuses, etc while struggling?"

Hey qdog, will you hire me? I promise to deliver squat, sit on my butt all day, and drive the company into bankruptcy if I can. As long as you keep the perks coming I'll be happy.

Makes about as much sense...

My guess it that it's BOA that pulled the plug when they found out about it.

To describe Countrywide as "struggling" is an interesting choice of words, considering that it had the choice of either selling itself at a bargain-basement price to BOA or going bankrupt. Mozilo decided to sell and bail out with a golden parachute. But somehow he didn't understand that the new master might not take kindly to his wasting wht's left of Countrywide's corporate assets with one final, gigantic splurge.

Ok, Countrywide employs lazy people who don't produce, and even if they did, they don;t deserve perks or other types of compensation? that is a crock of crap..i am not condoning the illegal activities Countrywide has allegedly done, but the whole company is not responsible for the actions of some..

It simply isn't appropriate to endulge in totally non-job related luxuries on company time and money, if the company is struggling and laying off a lot of people.

If you don't understand this then you have a problem understanding decency.

But it is a necessary evil, it is a "perK" for those who help make the company $$$$.. And i clearly understand decency..
.What i find comical is the myraids of posters thrashing Countrywide,et al for their business practices..But is is SO easy to do after-the-fact..Where was the outcry from all you people when these loans started several years ago?? Was it OK back then? Because it shouldn't have been...Maybe now that John Edwards,(notable ambulance chaser) has dropped out of the presidential race, he can bring forth some class action lawsuits that benefit NOBODY except the ambulance chasers,err lawyers

Well, if the company is making $$$$, nobody is going to complain about perks. As it is, this company isn't making $$$$ but losing $$$$$$$$.

Those mortgage bankers should be rewarded _after_ proven success based on past performance (which looking at Countrywide's results doesn't warrant luxury ski vacations at the moment) not some imaginary future success.

feedingfrenzy: "But somehow he didn't understand that the new master might not take kindly to his wasting wht's left of Countrywide's corporate assets with one final, gigantic splurge."

Exactly. Apparently, Mozilo continued his bad decision making process (bad for all but Mozilo, of course) in thinking that with the BofA buyout, it would still be business as usual...and that he could continue to make the same decisions that screwed over the company to begin with..which were legion.

IMO...his days in the industry are numbered...for sure...with this latest stunt being the final nail in his professional coffin.

For more on Mozilo and friends:

Here is a link that might be useful: The Richie Riches of The Housing Mess

"Ok, Countrywide is the ONLY company that provides "perks", bonuses, etc while struggling?"

Of course not - big parties were popular with Enron too.

"But it is a necessary evil, it is a "perK" for those who help make the company $$$$."

Ok, if any of these top producers say "What, no Ski Trip? well, screw Countrywide and BofA, I'm going to work for Chase!" (or wherever) you may have a point. So far there's been no evidence of that.

"Where was the outcry from all you people when these loans started several years ago??"

We don't have a working crystal ball, and I'm pretty certain you don't either.

crystal ball, i did have,lol..My friend is a mortgage broker/owner and we debated for hours about how it would end, i always said it would be ugly, as prices could never continue to escalate, and he always said all was fine,lol..Funny thing was he was right for about 1 year-15 months after this conversation,but ultimately, my premonition was correct,though home prices int he NJ town i lived in until 18 months ago, has seen very little in the form of price declines, nothing of any significance..
Being 15-20 miles due west of NYC and the plethora of jobs and a diversified base at that, keep the real estate market somewhat healthy...

qdog

I have never once heard you complain about Countrywide's practices, either in the past or now.

Many people on this forum were ahead of you in predicting a housing bust. Most of them were ridiculed and hounded off the forum by the "housing prices can't go down" crowd. I do not recall you participating in any of those discussions.

What I do clearly recall when I began to notice you posting on here was that you were extremely upset because the house you had recently purchased in NJ (in 2006, I believe) had already significantly declined in value. You started more than one thread on that subject and your laments were loud and frequent enough to make a big impression on here. Apparently, your personal housing market crystal ball was pretty cloudy.

ff, my dearest friend,lol...While i may have what you termed :lamented" about a decline in my present home's value,i am smart enough to realize that i had a significant appreciation on the home i sold,somewhere in the vicinity of 250% since i purchased in 1996...So it really wasn't/isn't a loss, per se... Also i was relocating for a job, and it was necessary with several children to purchase a home..Since i NEVER consider my home as an investment, i am not to particularly concerned about what it's present day value is or isn't..
I stumbled upon this site probably in late 2005, just about when i was getting ready to list.Market was still red-hot,much to my disbelief, and i sold in 24 hours with multiple bids in the spring...
Now i take issuance with your "extremely upset" comment..I take full resposnibilty for my actions, unlike the myriads of people blaming everyone for their financial problems.Sure Countrywide likley did some illegal actions, and so did many other firms.But a significant amount of people paid NO attention to their own actions, and created the financial distress they are now in..But people like yourself, and others,notably Ms Logic,lol. blame everyone but those whose signatures appear on the documents..

The 'players' who stuck us our country in this situation KNEW BETTER. They were not 'uneducated buyers' who believed the lies of certain mortgage loan sharks who stuck them in loans that even a JUDGES are having difficulty figuring out who actually owns these properties.

THEY are the ones who ought to be in JAIL, NOT munching lobster at a fancy ski resort.

If we were really a nation of laws rather than nincompoops, federal agents would be busy rounding up every investment banker and hedge fund sharpie on Wall Street so they could get to the bottom of the subprime boondoggle. Regulators still haven't even decided whether it was a case of overzealous marketing of dodgy securities or downright fraud. That should be "job one" for the SEC.

Bank of America is proposing is that the US government guarantee the shoddy mortgages that the banks issued to âÂÂunemployed shoe-clerks with bad creditâ so they could peddle them as Triple A âÂÂsecuritiesâ to unsuspecting investors. Now that subprimes are blowing up at a record pace, the banks need a government bailout before their balance sheets are reduced to cinders.

But what does the poor taxpayer get out of the deal besides soaring inflation, bulging fiscal deficits, and the âÂÂwarm and fuzzyâ feeling that he's helped some tasseled-shoed charlatan keep his larder in the Hamptons full of Dom Perignon and crab cakes?

The reason we're in this mess is because financial innovation and deregulation have driven the markets off a cliff. And that started with the bankers. Financial innovation has nothing to do with the efficient deployment of capital for productive activity. No way. In fact, it is the exact opposite. The financial innovations of the last decade have primarily focused on transforming the liabilities of dubious mortgage applicants into complex debt-instruments which are enhanced with massive amounts of leverage and exotically-named derivatives. The investments banks and brokerage houses fought hard to establish the present system which they call âÂÂstructured financeâÂÂ. They spent over $100,000 million lobbying congress to remove the legislative firewall which kept investment and commercial banks separate. Those laws, particularly Glass Steagall, made sure that the public was protected from the Ponzi-scams which proliferated just prior to the Great Depression. But, now, 30 years later, the same scams are back with a vengeance.

Exactly. Only those who were involved in the scheme, or are too unsophisticated to understand how it worked pretend to believe..or actually believe otherwise.

And, there will always be some who will continue to pretend the emperor has clothes, rather than face reality and lose the benefits of being in denial.

"But people like yourself, and others,notably Ms Logic,lol. blame everyone but those whose signatures appear on the documents.."

Don't tell me, qdog, whom I blame or don't blame. If you had actually read my posts on the subject you would know the statement you made isn't true.