Countrywide Bank???

[Mysto]

As interest rates come down - I'm looking for a better place to park my cash.
Countrywide bank seems to be a good choice based on rates and the ability for electronic xfer but.... they are probably the center of the subprime universe. I know the bank is FDIC insured but what happens if Countrywide goes belly up. Do I stand and wait for my money? Any other problems or exposure? Any one know or have ideas?

[OAG]

If FDIC (which Countrywide is) and they are the LARGEST Mortgage Company (which can lead to the higher fixed income rates when they need money to fund mortgages) in the USA you should have no problems at all as long as the depository account you use is FDIC. If they went down it would be probably on a Friday afternoon and the new bank would take over on the following Monday morning. You should have no wait for your money. If in a CD the new bank may or may not honor the terms - worst case you would get you CD principal and interest to date and have to find someplace to park it.

[Spanky]

Your money may be safe because of FDIC. Would you really want to bank with them given the horrors and the ways how they conduct their mortgage business? Many customers are angry and disgusted.

[Lakewood90712]

I have used them for several years because of the high MM rate. They have been owned by CWF for several years , was known as Treasury Bank ,Country wide changed the name last year.

Very easy to deal with. IMHO , as safe as any FDIC bank.

Countrywide mortgage business is a disgrace, along with WAMU, Indymac, Ameriquest and countless others . CEO Mozillo of CWF is a real creap.

I have a special dislike of WAMU due to lawless behavior of the corporation. ( I had to drag WAMU into court on an order to show cause because they obey a Superior Court writ of mandate only if they feel like doing so.) A Banker I know thinks my legal problems with WAMU are due to a corp. culture requiring front line employees, including branch managers to act like robots, and 'If it's not in the operation manual, just say no".

The outcome of inflated apprasials and fraud in fliping houses and then walking away is going to make the last RTC bailout look very small .

I am in the Doom and Gloom mode big time. Not ready to start stocking up on canned goods, generators, and ammo, but we are in for some un-pleasnt financial times.

Cheers.

[KB]

I tried to open a CD with Countrywide on the first day of their 5.71 CDs a couple of weeks ago. They were making customers listen to their 'Open a MM, etc' sales pitch even though we only wanted CDs. It took a few people an hour, I walked out after 30 minutes and another customer opened hers in 15 minutes.

The rep I was working with kept answering the phone, which apparently was more important than I was even though I was sitting at his desk checkbook in hand. I wasn't happy by the time I walked out without opening my CD.

I would assume they are collecting a huge infusion of cash to help them bail out other mortgage companies. The 5.71 rate lasted almost 2 weeks before dropping to what it is now.

Maybe I should be more specific: the rep would not let me just open the account. He insisted on running me through the whole sales pitch which would take an hour (from what other customers has shared as we waited in the lobby). He insisted I open a MM so I would not lose the float of interest from the time I closed my account and they mailed the check from TX (which might take 2 weeks he said). Yada Yada Yada. I've decided my time is not spent wisely listening to people try to convince me to do something I don't want to do. Especially when it comes to opening more bank accounts. I have enough.