New Century files for bankruptcy

This one had been in the works for two or three weeks. The OC subprime mortgage lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company listed over $100 million in assets and more than $100 million in debts, although you shouldn't pay much attention to those numbers because bankruptcy filings only require a range. "More than $100 million" is the largest value range given. As part of the filing, New Century said it will cut its work force by about 3,200, or 54 percent. Also, it will sell its mortgage-billing account business to Carrington Capital Management LLC for about $139 million. Job losses in the mortgage business - and its potential impact on the regional economy - came up in the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast. Basically, there's concern, but other sectors of the economy are holding up reasonably well.