Job Cuts At LendingTree

Mortgage lender LendingTree couldn’t think of a better holiday gift for its employees: job cuts. Unlike Freddie Mac, which took its employees to a party at Ritz-Carlton, LendingTree will be eliminating 220 jobs, which leaves it with some 1,000 employees. This is the third time this year that the company conducts mass layoffs. According to a spokeswoman for the lender, the layoffs were prompted by pessimistic forecasts for the industry. LendingTree posted a third-quarter loss of $5.6 million, compared to profits of $15.2 million a year earlier. The company saw its loan sales plunge due to lower demand by the secondary market, lower revenue per loan and the closing of fewer loans. Since the beginning of the credit crunch in the summer, profits have plunged for mortgage lenders as they tightened their lending standards to prevent future delinquencies and foreclosures. A report by the Labor Department showed that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.8% in October, the biggest jump since September 2005, which will negatively affect the consumers’ ability to make timely mortgage payments, meaning more trouble for lenders. I guess Christmas won’t be very jolly for some companies.