Lenders post more loan ills

Shares of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp tumbled 20% on Monday after the mortgage bank reported higher delinquencies in January and a sharp drop in loan production compared to a year earlier.

In other bad mortgage news, Calabasas-based leader Countrywide Financial Corp. reported a surge in delinquencies on risky loans known as pay-option adjustable rate mortgages, or option ARMs.

And the stocks of two companies that buy home loans or mortgage-backed securities -- Thornburg Mortgage Inc. and Deerfield Capital Inc. -- lost half their value on developments disclosed by the firms.

IndyMac, the ninth-largest U.S. mortgage lender, originated $2.9 billion in loans in January, down 66% from a year earlier and 33% from December, the company said Sunday.

Excluding discontinued lending operations, the lender said loan production was down 49% from a year earlier.

IndyMac said the decline had been expected because the company had to tighten lending requirements after new credit guidelines were adopted by government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in November.

Because of the credit crunch that began last year, IndyMac, like other lenders, increasingly relies on selling loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to replenish capital to originate new loans.

Delinquencies continued to rise in IndyMac’s loan servicing portfolio, which totaled $199.1 billion at the end of January. As a percentage of unpaid principal balance, about 7.8% of the loans were at least 30 days late, up from 7.5% on Dec. 31, IndyMac said. About 3% of the loans were in foreclosure, up from 2.7% in December.

Delinquencies surged across all loan types, even prime loans typically made to borrowers with excellent credit histories. The biggest jump in 30-day delinquencies occurred in a category that includes home equity lines of credit, with delinquencies rising to 16.4% from 14.9% in December.

Like other lenders, IndyMac has pulled back on home equity loans in recent weeks.

IndyMac posted its first annual loss in company history last year, totaling $614 million.

The company’s shares tumbled $1.23 on Monday to $4.92.

Countrywide reported Friday that at the end of December, 5.71% of the option ARMs in its servicing portfolio were at least 90 days late, up from 0.65% a year earlier.

Option ARMs give borrowers the option to make a lower payment but can result in the unpaid portion being added to the principal balance.

Of all the loans in Countrywide’s servicing portfolio, valued at about $1.5 trillion, 6.96% were delinquent, up from 5.02% at the end of 2006, and 1.04% were facing foreclosure, up from 0.65%.

Bank of America Corp. has agreed to buy Countrywide in a transaction projected to close in the third quarter.

Shares of Countrywide fell 14 cents, or 2.2%, to $6.17.

Santa Fe, N.M.-based Thornburg Mortgage Inc. said it had failed to meet a surge in margin calls, raising concern the company might file for bankruptcy protection.

Shares of Thornburg closed down $4.58, or 51%, at $4.32.

Deerfield Capital, a credit-investment company, late last week reported selling $1.3 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities at a $152.9- million loss.

The value of mortgage securities and high-risk loans that Deerfield buys has plummeted, and banks have pulled back on lending to companies that buy and hold securities.

Deerfield’s stock sank $3.25, or 50%, to $3.24.