The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and several banks tapped mortgage marketplace DebtX to sell off $550 million in performing and nonperforming loans.

The sell-off will occur over a period of six weeks. DebtX Chief Executive Officer Kingsley Greenland said the sale is the natural result of agencies looking for opportunities to free themselves from debt so they can expand. “Financial institutions are accelerating the process of strengthening their balance sheets through active management of their loan portfolios,” said Greenland. “Sellers recognize that the healthier they are, the more opportunities there will be to exercise strategic options and grow revenue through new lending.” As part of the deal, DebtX will conduct two offerings for the FDIC: a $28.7 million sale of loans backed by real estate, business assets, stocks, vehicles and boats; and a $38 million offering focused on unsecured loans classified in the performing and nonperforming loan categories. The remaining sales will be for financial institutions. One of the offerings is for a bank in the south, which intends to offload $111.9 million in performing and non-performing loans backed by commercial real estate and land. Another $74.6 million offering is for a top-tier U.S. bank that has commercial loans backed by retail property in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. The remaining offerings are for banks in the Midwest, Northeast and Pacific Northwest and are backed by performing and nonperforming commercial real estate, including everything from mixed-use properties, assisted-living facilities, office, multi-family and retail.

Write to: Kerri Panchuk.