A mortgage lender launched a year ago by an Arizona bank that has since failed has emerged as a subsidiary of another institution.
In October 2009, National Residential Mortgage was launched as a subsidiary of First Arizona Savings FSB. The company was founded by two executives including former Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Chief Executive Officer Jeff Walton.
Walton was also CEO of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., which has long since ceased operations, and president of the mortgage divisions of First National Bank of Arizona and First National Bank of Nevada.
“We are fortunate to partner with First Arizona Savings, which has strong ownership and is located right in our own back yard,” Walton stated at the time.
But First Arizona was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision on Oct. 22 and liquidated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
However, Phoenix-based National Residential, with its CEO intact, has emerged as part of Dubuque, Iowa-based Heartland Financial USA Inc., according to a news release Monday.
National Residential, staffed with 24 employees, is now originating through Heartland’s Arizona Bank & Trust subsidiary. Administration and back-office support will be organized within a division of Dubuque Bank and Trust, a “lead bank” for Heartland.
“As non-bank competitors in this space are beginning to disappear, we see significant opportunity in the future by expanding residential loan origination as a gateway retail product and a strategic line of business,” Heartland Chairman, President and CEO Lynn B. Fuller said in the announcement. “As with all Heartland credit products, this business line will focus on traditional mortgage banking based on sound lending principles.”
