The news was first reported in Rob Chrisman's daily newsletter and confirmed by his son Mark. Mozilo was 84.
Mozilo co-founded what would become Countrywide Financial Corp. in 1969 with David Loeb, eventually turning the nonbank into the industry's largest originator and servicer. Later, the pair would found what became known as IndyMac, which met its own fate in 2008 after becoming a bank. At that time, Mozilo was no longer involved in its affairs.
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., testifies at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on severance packages for executives involved in the subprime mortgage crisis, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, March 7, 2008. Mozilo, who left Countrywide upon it's acquisition by Bank of America in July 2008, may now be the target of a civil-fraud claim by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News
JAY MALLIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Mozilo was known in the industry for both his perpetual tan as well as his sense of style. Starting in October 1991 and over the following 12 months, Mozilo was the face of the business as president (a position that has since been renamed chairman) of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Under Mozilo's stewardship, Countrywide emphasized working with low- and moderate- income communities. In 1999, Mozilo increased Countrywide's five-year commitment, the We House America campaign to serve these borrowers, to $80 billion.
A 2003 article noted that Countrywide grew the commitment to $100 billion and achieved it three years early. It then increased the goal to $600 billion, to achieve by 2010.
Countrywide would not survive to that target date.
At the start of 2008, weighed down by poorly originated loans, which some said were reportedly done at the direction of Mozilo, Bank of America agreed to buy what it already didn't own of Countrywide for $4 billion. By then, Countrywide had moved from being an independent mortgage banker to owning a thrift.
Mozilo never faced criminal charges for what happened at Countrywide but did agree, without admitting or denying liability, to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $67.5 million.
What particularly aroused ire in some quarters was the so-called "Friends of Angelo" program. Reportedly some 18,000 of these loans were made over a 12-year period that included a 50-basis-point price break along with fee waivers.
Mozilo spent the succeeding years pushing back on the perception he and Countrywide, along with subprime lending, bore responsibility for the Financial Crisis.
Mortgage rates remain in the 6.6% range, with the tariff news so far having little impact, but could change given the 35 basis point drop in the 10-year yield.
The underlying prime mortgages have an average balance of $358,024, a weighted average (WA) original FICO score of 776, an original cumulative loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 73.6%.
Fears of a recession intensified after President Trump unveiled his plan to impose a minimum 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, and the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index tumbled by more than 8%.
Offices, apartment buildings and retail locations in Los Angeles face a tangle of difficulties as the smoke clears from January's wildfires. High on the list is inadequate insurance, a common problem in California.
The notes will be issued through series 2025-3 and 2025-4, and aside from slightly different maturity dates, they have similar initial overcollateralization and reserves.
