Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), reacting to negative publicity, canceled plans to host a posh ski trip for about 30 mortgage bankers at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch ski resort in Avon, Colo., a spokesman said.
The New York Times first reported the cancellation of the trip last week. It was mentioned and criticized on CNBC on Friday.
The cancellation comes as Countrywide tries to damp down widespread criticism of its lending practices, which have led to a surge of foreclosures. The company's chief executive, Angelo Mozilo, is due to appear Thursday at a hearing of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by California Democrat Henry Waxman, who is raising questions about compensation packages for top executives of companies involved in the mortgage crisis.
The list price for a regular room on a weekday night at the Ritz in Avon starts at $750. But a Countrywide spokesman said the company would have paid "much less" than that.
The three-night event -- for smaller mortgage banks known as "correspondents" that sell home loans to Countrywide -- was to include two four-hour business meetings along with skiing and dinner at upscale restaurants, including the Spago restaurant, whose menu includes Kobe steak with wasabi potato puree for $105.
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