Countrywide Credit Industries has become the first company to pass $70 billion in mortgage servicing.
The Pasadena, Calif., mortgage bank said it was processing payments on $72.1 billion of loans at Aug. 31 up from $40.7 billion a year earlier.
The increase firmly established Countrywide as the nation's largest servicer of mortgages, ahead of Fleet Mortgage Group.The two companies had been running neck-in-neck in the first half.
Fleet finished August with a servicing portfolio of $68.6 billion, a spokesman said.
Countrywide's gains in servicing reflect aggressive originations, with new loans handily exceeding loans being paid off.
The company, the largest mortgage originator in the country, said it produced $4.8 billion of loans during August, up 71%. At Aug. 31, its pipeline of loans being processed stood at $9 billion.
In a separate announcement, North American Mortgage Co. said its August loan originations were $1.51 billion, 49% more than the year-earlier volume of $1.01 billion.
