Option One Mortgage Corp. of Irvine is cutting 575 jobs as part of the troubled subprime mortgage lender’s ongoing restructuring, according to parent company H & R; Block Inc.
Kansas City-based tax preparer H & R; Block said late Tuesday it plans to take a quarterly charge of about $19 million for the layoffs.
In May, Option One announced 615 job cuts.
About 85 of the latest job cuts are coming in Irvine, where Option One has about 1,000 workers.
Option One expects to have about 1,700 workers once the cuts are made, down from 2,400 a few months ago.
H & R; Block is trying to salvage a sale of Option One to New York-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.
The sale originally was estimated at about $800 million.
But Option One’s loan volume and ability to borrow aren’t meeting the minimum conditions needed for the deal to close. H & R; Block is trying to renegotiate the deal, which would include exiting the loan origination business and completing the sale earlier than the current Dec. 31 deadline.
Option One could be shut down if a deal can’t be reached.
