Consumerist

wamu

WaMu CEO Compares Mortgage Meltdown To The Great Depression

WaMu announced today that they lost $1.14 billion in the first-quarter and CEO Kerry Killinger said that nothing of this scale had happened “since the Great Depression.” Comforting!

“Nothing of this scale has happened since the Great Depression,” Chief Executive Kerry Killinger said at WaMu’s annual meeting. “This is the toughest credit cycle I have seen in my years in the industry.”

WaMu says it will cut 3,000 more jobs, including that of Mary Pugh, chair of their finance committee who “had been fiercely criticized for failing to protect Washington Mutual from overexposure to subprime and other risky mortgages,” according to Reuters.

fees

Switched To Fee-Free ATM Withdrawals

By consumerist.com 3.17.08

I’m sick of paying ATM fees so I just finished switching to my USAA debit card for my cash money needs. They refund up to $15 of ATM fees per month and don’t charge you any fees for using other people’s ATMs. I’m still keeping my WaMu account but I took my WaMu debit card out of my wallet and just funded my USAA account with some money. Not that I have a problem but I think this will also help reduce petty cash spending. Plus, by using cash more often that means I’m getting more change, and all my coin change goes into my piggy bank (60% full at the moment, looking forward to the day I take it to the Commerce Bank “Penny Arcade” coin-counting machine). With the specter of a recession giving us all wet willies, are you making any changes to your personal finance system?

wamu

By Meg Marco 3.14.08

../../../..//2008/03/14/wamu-has-bad-credit-says/

WaMu has bad credit, says the AP:

Moody’s Investors Service cut Washington Mutual Inc.’s credit rating Friday and said the country’s largest savings and loan will need at least $4 billion more than it expected to cover bad mortgages in 2008.

[AP]

readers

WaMu Rewrites Executive Bonus Plan To Avoid Subprime Meltdown Responsibility

By consumerist.com 3.12.08

The Seattle Times reports that Washington Mutual has revised its executive bonus plan so continuing fallout from the subprime meltdown won’t affect their annual bonus checks. In a regulatory filing on Monday, the bank moved to exclude the cost of bad loans and expenses arising from foreclosures when calculating net operating profit. By way of explanation, “Spokeswoman Libby Hutchinson said the bonus plan covers almost 3,000 WaMu executives, many of whom are not directly involved in lending,” writes the Seattle Times. When those subprime raping dollars were rolling in, did any of these same executives object that their bonuses was being unfairly pumped by profits not coming from their department? (Pictured: CEO Kerry Killinger, looking clever)

wamu

This WaMu Confirmation Number Has A Potty Mouth

By Meg Marco 3.11.08

There is a ghost in the machine. Kill it. Skynet. Help. It’s learning at a geometric rate.

transfers

You'd Better Know Your Balance, Because WaMu Certainly Doesn't

By cwalters 3.7.08

“Keep track of your bank balances!”—pretty much every week on Consumerist either we or our readers say something like this.

thifts

WaMu Enrolls You In A Program Without Permission, Then Charges An ETF

By Meg Marco 3.6.08

Reader Michael signed up for a new free checking account with WaMu and the person who opened the account for him (accidentally?) enrolled Michael in some sort of bullshit coupon program that costs $5 a month. Now WaMu has charged him a $10 early termination fee and is refusing to refund it.

check

36 Confessions Of A WaMu Banker

By Meg Marco 2.18.08

– About the WaMu Free Checking, yes it is a different “free” checking account. We just came out with the “WaMu” part about a couple of years ago, so if you have any “free” checking account older than that I suggest you change it to the newer one.

theft

I Call This My WaMu Nightmare

By Meg Marco 1.10.08

Reader Krissy writes in with an absolutely horrible story about dealing with WaMu after her purse was stolen. She’s been living without a checking account or debit card since October because of WaMu.

banking

WaMu No Longer Provides Plastic Cutlery, Hot Chocolate, Keeps Tea

By Meg Marco 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.

complaints

WaMu Doesn't Care That Your Email Address Is Listed On Some Random Guy's Account

By Meg Marco 12.13.07

I was hoping I’d never have to write to The Consumerist about a company giving me grief. I never expected that it would end up being a company that I have absolutely no connections to that forced my hand.

first american

Cuomo Subpoenas Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac In Home Appraisal Inflation Investigation

By Meg Marco 11.8.07
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed the nation’s two largest financiers of home mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in his investigation into the “systemic fraud” that has infected the business of real estate appraisals.

subprime meltdown

New York Sues First American For Conspiring With WaMu To Inflate Home Appraisals

By Meg Marco 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

WaMu Is Bad At Stopping Money Laundering

By Meg Marco 10.19.07
The Office of Thrift Supervision has issued a Cease and Desist order to WaMu because they’re extremely crappy at stopping money laundering. According to the order, they must get their act together and file a new plan that insures they will be in compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act by March 31, 2008.

ouch

Subprime Meltdown Kicks WaMu's @#$, Profits Down 75%

By Meg Marco 10.5.07
It must not be fun around WaMu headquarters today. Profits are down a whopping 75%.

subprime meltdown

WaMu Says Housing Market In "Perfect Storm"

By Meg Marco 9.10.07
“The combination of rising delinquencies, higher foreclosures, more housing inventories, increasing interest rates on many mortgages and greatly reduced availability of mortgages due to limited liquidity is creating what we call a near-perfect storm for housing,” Chief Executive Officer Kerry Killinger said.

wamu

"Free Checking" Is Different Than "WaMu Free Checking." What?

By Meg Marco 8.9.07
Reader Edward would like to let you know that “Free Checking” at Washington Mutual is different than “WaMu Free Checking,” and if you’d like those “free checks” they’ve been advertising, you’d better make sure you’ve been upgraded to “WaMu Free Checking.” If you’ve got “Free Checking” like Edward did, and you try to order checks, you will be charged $20.

mortgages

WaMu To Stop Offering Cetain Types Of Subprime Mortgages

By Meg Marco 7.19.07
WaMu, the nations largest Savings & Loan, is going to stop issuing certain risky types of subprime loans.

Welcome to the Consumerist Archives

wamu