E-Mail to MILA Workers: Business Ends Today

Employees at wholesaler Mortgage Investment Lending Associates Inc. (MILA) got an unpleasant surprise when they opened their e-mail last Friday: "It is with deep regret that due to ongoing negative market conditions MILA is forced to close its doors at the end of business today." Roughly 300 workers lost their jobs.The Mountlake Terrace, Washington-based mortgage wholesaler specialized in the subprime market through its hallmark automated online system that delivered loan commitments within seconds, minutes or hours, rather than the conventional process that could take days.The company’s mortgage lending doubled in 2003, growing from about $550 million in the prior year to well over $1 billion.The rapid growth of the business prompted founder, principal owner and CEO Layne Sapp to purchase an empty office building to house his expanding staff as MILA operations branched into other states.MILA’s growth continued into 2005 as the company made several billions of dollars in loans and brought employment to 700 workers.Foreseeing the eventual downturn in the subprime market, MILA began to pare down its workforce and move into the Alt-A market.Despite such moves, the company was unable to weather the subprime storm as loan buybacks began to haunt MILA.However long Sapp had mulled the closure of the company he began in 1989, the news for staff and brokers working for the company was swift and final.By Monday, the website was already taken down, leaving only a blank white screen.