Mortgage Giant Goes Out of Business

The newest big name victim of the current housing market is mortgaging giant Liberty Home Loans. The company had, at its peak, six offices and more than 100 employees based out of Tampa, Florida. The company was forced to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 25th when it was found that, with only $30,000 in assets, the company owed almost $3 million in unsecured claims to creditors. The result will be that the company’s assets will be liquidated and all debt will be wiped clean.

The two co-owners of the company filed for individual Chapter 7 at the same time. As the mortgage industry cools and becomes more competitive, Liberty becomes one of many companies that have withdrawn from the fight. Other large lenders that closed prior to Liberty’s announcement were Capital Alliance, QuoteMeARate and Merit Financial. Even one of the nation’s largest sub-prime lenders, Ameriquest, is restructuring and eliminating offices. Numerous smaller companies have either digressed into other services or closed their doors in response to the sluggish mortgage market that 2006 has brought.