The founder of a company that has claimed the No. 1 reverse lending spot in Maryland, along with dozens of his loan officers, has been recruited by a growing New Jersey firm. It’s the second such round of recruiting for the reverse lender since October. A southeast wholesale hub is additionally being established.
1st Maryland Mortgage Corp. previously reported that it ranked as the No. 1 reverse mortgage lender in Maryland during the third-quarter 2010. At that point, reported production since its 2001 opening was $1.5 billion.
1st Maryland, which was founded by former CEO Joshua Shein, does business as Great Oak Funding.
Now Shein and 39 other reverse originators from Baltimore-based Great Oak are joining Reverse Mortgage Network. The team will operate as the Maryland branch of the company.
(after the publication of this story, Maverick issued a revised statement indicating that a total of 27 employees, including Shein and 13 reverse mortgage loan officers, are joining Reverse Mortgage Network)
Reverse Mortgage Network was opened by parent Maverick Funding Corp. on Sept. 1, 2011.
The recruiting campaign is expected to be completed by August, though “Maverick anticipates that this team, new to Reverse Mortgage Network, will be fully operational by mid February 2012.”
It’s not the first group recruiting effort by Parsippany, N.J.-based Maverick.
In October, 22 reverse originators were recruited by Maverick from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which disclosed in June 2011 plans to abandon the reverse mortgage business entirely.
Once all of the Great Oak employees are on board, the reverse lending unit is expected to have a staff of 62. (the revised statement from Maverick indicated that the total will be 50) Across all of Maverick, headcount is expected to reach 170 by the middle of this year.
“Ralph Vitiello, Maverick Funding Corp. CEO, estimates that Reverse Mortgage Network will, in the near future, become one of the top 10 largest reverse mortgage lenders in the country,” the statement said.
In addition to the retail reverse expansion, Maverick is opening a wholesale lending office to handle the Southeast and West. That office, which is in the process of assembling a five-person team, is being led by Southeast Wholesale Lending Manager Patrick Stewart.
