A flexible new way to purchase a home - 2004-01-30
Just when it seemed every offbeat variation of home loan had reached the market, along comes this: Lenders are now offering to finance your house with just an equity line of credit.

So, in a world of skyrocketing home values and ultra-low interest rates, second mortgages have become first mortgages.

Vijay Lala, vice president at Countrywide Home Loans, says the loan was more successful in its first month than any other of his company's new mortgage products.
Read the full story at USA Today

Mortgage Lender Washington Mutual cuts 98 - 2004-01-30
Washington Mutual this week cut 98 jobs in metro Atlanta as higher interest rates slow mortgage refinancings.

"The jobs had to do with loan application processing," said Adrian Rodriguez, a Washington Mutual spokesman in Seattle, where the company is based.

Nationally, mortgage lenders are expected to cut 65,000 jobs this year as the demand for refinancing drops, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Read the full story at Atlanta Journal And Constitution