Credit panic will hurt minorities - Countrywide CEO

By Dana Ford

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gaps in home ownership rates between minorities and whites will increase because of a change in the U.S. mortgage industry, caused by a credit panic, the chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday.

"The structure of the business is permanently changed ... The industry will never be the same," said Angelo Mozilo, speaking at a real estate conference in downtown Los Angeles.

He said the credit crisis inspired fear among lenders, who are increasingly less likely to lend to risky borrowers.

"As a result, I believe that five years from now, or sooner, there will be substantial disparities between home ownership between whites and minorities," said Mozilo, whose company is the largest U.S. lender to African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians.

In the future, Mozilo added, banks and thrifts will be the primary providers of mortgage finance, while brokers will take more of a back-seat role.

Separately, North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore said on Thursday that he asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the timing of stock sales by Mozilo over the last year.

Also on Thursday, Countrywide reported that it cut nearly 5,000 jobs last month, as part of its plan to eliminate as many as 12,000 jobs by December. The nearly 20 percent cut in its work force is a response to the decline in the U.S. housing market.