Does $5 billion allow you to shutter WaMu’s Mortgage Broker Channel? You bet it does! It buys you the right to tell Washington Mutual to eliminate their business channel by May 31st (if you’re a buyer that’s using WaMu, your loan must already be locked and most loans must close by June 13th). WaMu announced to their employees that they are closing down their wholesale loan division, and will have yet-to-be-determined cuts in their retail division. Rumors had swirled about their wholesale business channel for some time, but this announcement came as a surprise to many wholesale reps. Supposedly, closing the wholesale division was a stipulation froma private equity firm that was giving them $5 billion.
