The Foreclosure of America: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of Countrywide Home Loans, the Mortgage Crisis, and the Default of the American Dream (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: direct mail, adjustable rate mortgage, new customer acquisition, United States, Bank of America, Corporate Marketing (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From Countrywide's former Senior VP of Marketing, the first engrossing inside look at Countrywide Home Loans, how the mortgage crisis started-and where it may end.

In July 2004, Adam Michaelson entered "The Vault"-an underground bunker at Countrywide headquarters-for a meeting about a new loan product that would allow borrowers to pay less than their minimum monthly payment. After the "finance jocks" proudly made their case, Michaelson asked one question: "Are you nuts?" Countrywide's decision-makers believed these new exotic loans were "worth the risk." The booming housing market would only get bigger, with ever-increasing home values supporting homeowners in a never-ending cycle of borrowing against the virtual value of their homes and refinancing later. They were dead wrong.

With both an insider's knowledge and thorough reporting on the ripple effects on American families and the economy, this fascinating, witty, and wide-ranging book not only examines the morality of a career spent marketing mirages and the market forces that destroyed a company, but addresses the question that everyone is asking: can corporations serve the public good and profit at the same time? Most importantly, it offers creative thinking on how to prevent such a meltdown from ever happening again.

About the Author

Adam Michaelson joined Countrywide as Senior Vice President of Marketing after fifteen years at top ad agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather and Grey Worldwide. He now runs the Michaelson Marketing Group and has provided marketing counsel to numerous Fortune 100 clients.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425227413
• ISBN-13: 978-0425227411
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adn they thought they were so darned smart...., January 20, 2009

By	C. Poolus (Islip, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Adam Michaelson's book is an eye opener, to say the least. I have to compare the book to a major water cooler gossip session, laying bare the motivation (greed), politics (of course) and inner workings of Countrywide from someone who was actually ON the inside. For those of us who've watched in horror as this economic disaster has unfolded, the book answers quite a few questions about how the landslide began, and how it evolved into the avelanche that's wiped out the lives of so many.
The book is written in such a manner as to make the reader feel as though they're receiving insider trading tips. There are even little excerpts of humor sprinkled liberally throughout the book, which, by the time you run across them, god knows you'll need the laugh.
Interesting enough that I read it through without stopping.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Blah, blah blah, May 26, 2009

By	M. Perry "print-osaur" (Calif.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author sure writes a lot to tell us so little. On top of that, he comes across as a smarmy, egotistical *sshat more often than not. And enough with the italics, really -- the heavy, heavy use of itals nearly made this book almost unreadable. We get it, Adam: you think it's an important point. It's better to let your readers make the jump, though. Especially when you have so many damn "important points" on every page.
The cover illo got my attention, but the rest of the book failed to live up to any reasonable expectation of an "expose."

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 354 pages of fluff.....What a waste of time., March 8, 2009

By	deuce "deuce" (Draper, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

The Title and Cover Design of this book was very catching when I first walked by it in Barnes & Noble. I've got to hand it to Adam Michaelson, he does a slick job in marketing his book, e.g. Amazon.com, the 'Newly published books table' at Barnes & Noble, TV interviews, etc, after all this guy's a marketing guy. You just got ripped off.

Adam Michaelson shows his egotistical nature by devoting half this book on his career, promotions, job experience, and just boring job detail. After all, he is a CMO. What?....you say. What is a CMO? I've heard of a CEO. Even a CFO and a COO, but a CMO? Well, Adam has filled his book full of boring fluff to convince you how important a CMO is.

From my reading of this book, one would assume that Adam was actually a manager of the company's Web Page Development. There is so much attention to job detail with web design, the reader will most certainly fall asleep.

.... "In cases like this that involved the subjectivity of creative, I would call upon my Direct Marketing background and, maximizing the power of the web, try to pick just two or three concepts to test. By rotating two or three banner concepts into the same media buy space, within one day I could clearly see which banner would be generating the greatest number of clicks, or responses. When in doubt of subjective creative choices, always let the marketplace - your customers - tell you which one will be most profitable via their response behavior." ....

Adam certainly brings out his self-centeredness by continually focusing on his web experience. This book is wordy, and is is filled throughout with boring excerpts of who else? .....Adam Michaelson:

.... 'Yes, cuff links. Since starting at Countrywide, I tended to "overshadow the runway" on attire. I wanted to be known as a professional, a client now, no longer an agency flip-flops cliche. I always wore a tie. And many days, I would wear crisply starched shirts with French cuffs, and acccompanying cuff links to clink on the conference tables as I presented some critical marketing data. I wanted to be taken seriously, and during my New York training, I saw that dressing the part could make the difference.' ....

.... blah, blah, blah.......

Adam speaks continually about his conferences, meetings, and lunches with important people within Countrywide. He writes endlessly trying to convince you that he has gathered valuable information about some top secret Countrywide information. I continued to read this book thinking I would run into some valuable information on the subprime mortgage crisis. There is little value in his book. Adam Michaelson's limited information on the mortgage crisis is common knowledge to the regular viewer of CNN or CNBC. Well, after all, what do you expect a marketing guy to talk about? In my opinion this book is about as interesting as a box of rocks.