Countrywide Home Loans Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

Great work environment, led by solid management, and offering excellent salary potential. Underwriting guidelines were not overly tough and we worked as one unit with the operations department

Cons

At times it was very difficult to close loans. Upper management offered harsh criticism despite not being in the office very much.

Advice to Senior Management

Management could spend more time in the actual branch offices. Also, they can work with operations to decrease amount of time required to approve loans

Pros

It has very good benefits

Cons

The management treatment towards their employees

Advice to Senior Management

Have an open door policy with the employees

Pros

CHL has good intentions upon hiring qualified candidates for employment. They attempt to provide a strong foundation to build upon during the first few weeks of employment.

Cons

They do not execute on the foundation they provide to employees. Their employees are over tasked and under utilized as far as the employees skill sets are concerned. They also don't provide career pathing for employees who inquire about career growth.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep in mind that a strong foundation leads to a strong structure that allows the company to grow if fostered correctly.

Pros

At the time I was employed at Countrywide Home Loans, it was a highly respected company and one of the top originators of A-Paper and subprime loans.

Cons

Their lax underwriting guidelines for subprime loans resulted in a lot of defaulted loans because upper management were pressured into meeting their monthly & quarterly quotas.

Advice to Senior Management

The company as a whole was a great company to work for, but it's rapid growth and demand to perform to Wall Street's expectations caused a lot of speculation as to the risk it was taking underwriting and approving many of their subprime loans.

Pros

Opportunities for advancement, exposure to technology. Exposure to mortgage industry.

Cons

current mortgage market - - company reputation suffered damage. thousands of employees laid off through no fault of their own.

Advice to Senior Management

analyze carefully what went wrong in industry to avoid happening again.

Pros

$150K pay mostly commissions. The monthly draw was $2500.

Cons

The micro-managment mentality. Managager timed your bathroom break. He knew it would only take 2mins. On the 3rd minute he would be waiting at your desk asking why so long. It was very stressfull

Advice to Senior Management

Put yourself in the employees shoes before you speak. To many senior management employees with no knowledge of leadership skills. You must realize we see everything. If you are not ethical we do not respect you and we do not take ownership for our work.

Pros

get your loans done FAST!! Helpful and knowledgeable operations / underwriting teams - - for the most part working with, and not against you, to reach a common goal... to properly structure and close deals!

Cons

Not merging with B of A quickly enough!

Advice to Senior Management

less volatility with rate changes

Pros

The money, the money, the money. The compensation was so good it is the primary reason I give the company a "recommended" rating

Cons

Where to begin? The primary downside is that if one is looking to truly cultivate a career and not remain a hired gun salesperson, the chances are very slim to advance (example: 75 employees, 3 sales leaders equals a long, difficult wait, at least at my location)

Advice to Senior Management

It would be a waste of time, as senior management's sole roles were to make sure all available reps were on the phones, and to document if a rep's numbers were below standard for a given month.

Pros

For what they pay, they offer a decent compensation package. The benefits are quite decent and you have a variety to choose from. Amenities-wise, they have some of the standard amenities that you would expect from a big company (cafeteria, gym, etc) but many times - depending on your location - they are at some other location across or down the street. Most people are friendly unless you need something more than a few button clicks away. The offices are generally nice and you don't have to work with dilapidated or outdated equipment, which was a big change from my previous employer who was too cheap to shell out a few bucks to upgrade our 266-mhz Pentium 2 server (2006). Overall, you get a lot of good training from smart people and it is not unbearable to stay here for a year or two.

Cons

The culture is terrible. Many big-headed executives (either by pay or by self-confidence) prance around the office and only collaborate with their own kind. You'll have to learn a lot of different systems because CW produces some extremely proprietary systems. You'll never use these systems at other jobs. Furthermore, the culture is extremely bigoted, but on the surface, everybody seems fairly nice so you don't feel it until working here for a while. There is a bit of sheep-like following of simply doing the work and "being satisfied where you are" with the pride of having been at CHL, the most infamous subprime lender, for ___ number of years.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more in touch with your people on the ground and not your head in the skies. Oh and watch out for that subprime mess. Oops too late. I guess someone got too greedy.

Pros

Since I started back in 2004, I have met some of the nicest people that I have ever worked with. As a matter of fact, I met my wife there, and to this day have friendships that have grown and will probably last for years to come. Countrywide hires some of the greatest people! The location wasn't bad either. It only took me about 15 minutes to drive to work. But it didn't matter if your title was "Vice President" or "Customer Service", colleagues were always willing to help each other out. That's one of the best parts of working for them.

Cons

Pay, Pay, Pay. Mozilo, Mozilo, Mozilo. From what I hear, we have some of the lowest paid employees in our industry around. A friend of mine brought me into Countrywide and 6 months later he actually left because AmeriQuest was "Doubling" his salary! When he had his exit interview, he told his boss what AmeriQuest was offering him and said he would stay if Countrywide could match it (he actually liked working here). Countrywide told him "Good Luck". Countrywide is so cheap! But yet they have all this money to fork out for Mozilo's salary and get-away retreats, which they call "Meetings" for Sr. Executive Leaders. Let's face it, sure Mozilo started this company from nothing in his kitchen and deserves his fair share of millions, but his own greed and lust for power and becoming #1 led his very own empire and dream into the ground. We all applaud what he has done and created, but while he will be sipping on Mai Tai's somewhere in Belize, his employees who helped run his operations will all be struggling and trying to hold on to under-paid positions in a depressing economy.

Advice to Senior Management

At this point it's pretty much every man for himself. Sr. Management is worrying just as much on there high podium as the low man on the totem pole. I would say "You get what you deserve" but the problem is that they don't deserve it. It's not there fault no one had the balls to tell Mozilo that what he was doing might be wrong! It's not there fault that no one could see this economic crisis coming. It's not there fault that no one once questioned Mozilo's motives or disagreed with his greed. It's not there fault that they continued to get paid off of the common man's ignorance, poverty, stupidity and dreams of a better life. But then again........What do they get paid for? To kiss ass and be a "Yes Man" Hell, I could of done that and retired with Mozilo then. Instead I'm crunching numbers all day and realizing that one day this is all going to take a turn for the worse (well, only for some of us). If I could tell Sr. "Executive" Management 1 thing? It would be this: "In your next job - don't be a "Yes Man" You do have an opinion don't you? Use it! Grab your balls, even if you don't agree and take a stand in what you believe. After all, if you get laid off - your bonuses, salary, pension, vacation and retirement packages should cover the next few years of your life.