More Updates:

Mom led sons on crime spree to pay her rent, cops say1-year-old girl nearly drowns in midtown tubMissing 1-year-old girl found safePolitical Notebook: No bonding over budget between Brewer and BurnsBeaudry RV buys time in reorg planPhones back on at Pima County's Animal Care CenterPolice: Arizona mom led sons on crime spreeTucson weekend: Find stuff to doPalin resignation leaves questions on 2012 runTucson youth center settles in to new Downtown locationToday's interactive map of crime in TucsonTucson gas-price tracker: StarNet helps you save at the pumpSerena beats sister Venus in Wimbledon finalCalif. regulators warn of pot's cancer capabilityPowerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home

Related articles:

Mortgage workers can't get to 401(k)sTHE LATEST: First Magnus revises assistance offerLaid-off Magnus workers get no payFirst Magnus: The story so farFirst Magnus cuts 99% of its national workforceFirst Magnus files for bankruptcy Nearly all First Magnus employees gone nationwide Jobs tight for many from First Magnus First Magnus gift checks in the mailMagnus workers to get job help

Other articles by Christie Smythe:

Christie Smythe: Former 'Ugly house' franchise settles suitTucson firm accused of 'deceptive tactics' in foreclosure rescuesLocal builder Pathway files for Chapter 7 bankruptcyTucson's Pathway Developments files for bankruptcy liquidationArizona mortgage failures fuel crisisShovels poised at South Side shopping centerReal Estate by Christie Smythe: Housing slide cuts antique door salesTucson office market in cooldownTucson's median home price plunges by 7.5 percentPhoenix-area lender to add Tucson firm

General
A1 Communications
Cable Techs Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION

First Magnus Financial Corp. still is not sending out paychecks to its former employees.

But the Tucson-based mortgage lender announced it is creating an assistance fund of more than $1 million to ease the burden.

In a news release, the company said paychecks have been delayed because its accounts were frozen by investors that provided capital to First Magnus to make loans.

The company was forced to shut down operations last week because it could no longer sell the loans it originates on the secondary market. The release said shareholders and executives of the company have pledged more than $1 million of their own money to assist Tucson-based former employees who “face significant hardship as a result of the payroll delay.”

Earlier, the company told employees to expect their checks by mail rather than direct deposit. Under both state and federal law, checks were due to employees on Monday.

First Magnus, which identified itself as one of the nation’s largest privately-owned mortgage lenders, made loans in all 50 states and employed nearly 6,000 nationwide. Almost all of those workers lost their jobs on Thursday.

First Magnus spokesman Gary Baraff said that only Southern Arizona employees will be eligible for the assistance from the fund because the company anticipates it will be harder for those employees to find other jobs than those who worked elsewhere in the country.

That’s because the Tucson workers’ jobs pertained to the company’s headquarters operations while employees elsewhere were in more common loan origination positions.

A Web page providing more details about the assistance fund will be available this afternoon at www.firstmagnus.com., according to the news release.