Top mortgage lender to close down

Thornburg Mortgage Inc. said it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and go out of business, making the provider of "jumbo" mortgage loans one of the largest casualties of the nation's housing slump and credit crisis.

The Santa Fe, New Mexico-based company specialized in making mortgages larger than $417,000 to borrowers with good credit. It has struggled with liquidity problems since the summer of 2007, when the value of mortgages on its balance sheet began to fall. It later suffered a series of margin calls from its creditors.

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