60 Minutes recently took a look at World Savings Bank, the acquisition that ultimately wounded Wachovia so badly that it had to be acquired by Wells Fargo. What was wrong with an institution for which Wachovia was willing to pay $25 billion? Well, one whistleblower claims that World Savings was engaged in fraud and predatory lending — tricking its customers into signing up for dangerous “option-arm” or (as they cheerfully called them) “pick-a-payment” loans.
savings and loan
WaMu Downgraded To Even Junkier Junk, Still Looking For A Life Preserver
By 9.25.08
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that WaMu is courting several private equity firms about a potential takeover after their debt was downgraded even further into junk status by Standard & Poor’s. Once merely “junk,” WaMu is apparently, “so junky we are not even kidding around about it anymore.”
WaMu No Longer Provides Plastic Cutlery, Hot Chocolate, Keeps Tea
By 1.2.08
We had an email go out to employees here at WaMu. They’re going to stop providing us plastic cutlery, hot chocolate, creamer, and anything but regular tea.
New York Sues First American For Conspiring With WaMu To Inflate Home Appraisals
By 11.1.07
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, announced today that he’s suing one of the nation’s largest real estate appraisal firms for conspiring with Washington Mutual to artificially inflate appraisals.
WaMu To Stop Offering Cetain Types Of Subprime Mortgages
By 7.19.07
WaMu, the nations largest Savings & Loan, is going to stop issuing certain risky types of subprime loans.
1,000,000-plus Students’ Personal Data Lost in Texas
By 6.2.06
Poof. The records of over a million customers at Texas A&M’s largest student loan provider have been lost. The records contained personal information about the borrowers.
