The pool of buyers for closed loans continues to expand, with the latest entrant focusing on government mortgages.
On Monday, Gateway Mortgage Group announced the launch of a correspondent lending division.
Target customers for the Tulsa, Okla.-based firm include banks, credit unions and independent mortgage bankers.
Gateway said that the new division was created to acquire conforming FHA, VA and USDA loans. It will retain the servicing on the mortgages.
The company said that is saw an opportunity to fill a niche that has been abandoned by several big banks.
“Some of the nation’s largest banks have begun to retreat from the correspondent lending channel in response to the implementation of Basel III requirements or as a strategic de-emphasis on the current mortgage market,” the statement said. “By selling loans to Gateway, depository institutions are ensured that their primary relationships with the borrower, including deposits, personal loans and credit cards, will not be in jeopardy since Gateway is not a competitor for those products.”
Some big players to recently call it quits in the correspondent space include Ally Financial Inc., Bank of America Home Loans, MetLife Home Loans and PHH Mortgage Corp.
Gateway, which reported $672 million in 2011 originations and says it services $1.3 billion, faces competition from a dozen or so other smaller players. Among the firms that are now vying for business from correspondent originators are Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., New Penn Financial LLC and PennyMac.
Scott Henley, Molly Reed Davis and Linda Garloch were recruited to run the new unit.
