As if the list is not long enough, Thursday and Friday saw more subprime casualties. Late Thursday, Atlanta-based subprime lender HomeBancfiled for bankruptcy protection. The company filed a Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
The filing said that the firm has projected assets and liabilities of more than $100 million each. The filing also said that the creditors holding unsecured claims against HomeBanc included JPMorgan Chase, Bear Stearns and BNP Paribas.
In related news, Kansas City-based NovaStar Financial reported a second-quarter loss after the market's Thursday close. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported a loss of $54.5 million available to shareholders, or $5.84 a share, for the second quarter. This compares with earnings for common shareholders of $33.1 million, or $3.97 a share, the same period in 2006.
As if these problematic lenders were not enough, mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp., in a new filing with the SEC, reported that it had $190 billion in short-term liquidity, but that just $46 billion "is highly reliable and available." Meanwhile, another big lender, Seattle-based Washington Mutual, disclosed in a public filing that it's liquidity might be affected, citing current conditions in the subprime market.
