Biggest U.S. Mortgage Lenders

DALLAS — (Nov. 8, 2010) /PRNewswire/ Mortgage lenders are ranked based both on how many new loans they originate and how many loans they service. By those measures, the biggest originator of home loans is based on the West Coast, while the biggest mortgage servicer is based on the East Coast, according to the Third Quarter 2010 Mortgage Lender Ranking from Mortgage Daily.

Mortgage originations represent transactions where the purchase of a home is financed or an existing mortgage is refinanced. In either case, the borrower — who is the consumer in the transaction — must attend a loan closing and sign a myriad of loan documents.

During the third quarter, U.S. mortgage originations were up one-third from the second quarter, according to a MortgageDaily.com analysis of activity. Business was down 37 percent, however, from the third-quarter 2009.

Based on origination volume, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. — with more than $100 billion in residential originations — was the biggest mortgage lender during the third quarter. The company’s mortgage subsidiary, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, operates from Des Moines, Iowa.

Quicken Loans Inc. managed to move up two spots from the prior report.

The second measure of mortgage lender size is the amount of mortgages they service, including loans originated in prior periods. Servicers collect payments each month and pass on interest earned to investors or to their own bottom lines.

Based on mortgage servicing portfolio size, Bank of America Corp. is the biggest U.S. servicer. While BofA is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., its mortgage subsidiary, Bank of America Home Loans, is based in Calabasas, Calif.