Nearly 9,000 mortgage jobs have been filled or are in the process of being filled, according to recent announcements from several lenders. Some bank positions are also being added.
As part of its loan modification strategy, Wells Fargo & Co. reported last month that it hired 7,600 servicing employees during 2009.
A new U.S. Bank service center in Overland Park, Kan., will create 1,100 new jobs beginning in the second quarter, a news release last month indicated. A U.S. Bank spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com that no mortgage positions are involved.
A thousand jobs are expected to be created at loanDepot.com by 2013, a news release last week said. The Irvine, Calif.-based online lender was recently launched by Anthony Hsieh in partnership with Parthenon Capital Partners and is already licensed in 18 states.
loanDepot.com, which says it is approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, claims all of its “mortgage bankers are both federally tested and state licensed.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been on a hiring spree.
The New York-based company said in June 2009 that it had added 950 loan counselors for the year, while another 250 servicing hirings were announced the following month. During November, it announced 1,200 planned loan officer hirings this year — potentially bringing originator headcount to 3,200. In December, JPMorgan said it would add 200 employees at 24 new home ownership centers in four states, including six centers in Florida. The addition brought the number of centers in the Sunshine State to 11 and the national total to 51.
The Jacksonville Business Journal reported Sunday that 77 counselor positions have yet to be filled in Florida.
More than 60 employees were being added to Superior Bank’s mortgage banking operation Alabama, a Nov. 24 news release indicated. The addition of the new employees, who will be housed in bank branches, resulted in a doubling of Superior’s mortgage staff to 120.
“In the last several years we have invested in new systems, expanded our product offering and built a reputation of delivering a level of service,” Superior President Rick Gardner said in the statement. “We see the mortgage business as core to our relationship with consumers.”
StreetLinks National Appraisal Services Chief Executive Officer Steve Haslam told MortgageDaily.com in a statement last month that the Indianapolis-based firm was adding 40 staff appraisal reviewers. The hirings will bring the staff total to 140. StreetLinks, a MortgageDaily.com advertiser, is an appraisal management company.
In a Dec. 17 news release, IBERIABANK Mortgage Co. said it opened new offices in Tampa, Fla., and Idaho Falls, Idaho. The Little Rock, Ark.-based lender said it now operates 45 offices in 12 states. Around 18 employees were being hired at the Tampa office, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.
Also in Florida, SurePoint Lending was reportedly expected to add around 18 employees, while HomeBancorp Inc. has been staffing three mortgage loan production offices, American City Business Journals Inc. reported.
Most of the staff of Merrlin Mortgage Corp., as well as president and owner Charles E. Merritt III, has joined Bank of Blue Valley, according to a recent announcement. Overland Park, Kan.-based Merrlin shut down during the summer of 2009.
