Greenlight Financial Services will launch a newly revamped reverse mortgage division to begin operating in July.
The Irvine, Calif.-based financial services company previously operated a reverse mortgage division, which closed 264 reverse mortgage loans in 2008, according to data from ReverseBase, before shutting down the division for reasons of economic uncertainty upon the financial crisis.
Now, under the leadership of Dave Bancroft, past president and founding partner of Mission Viejo, Calif.-based OMNI Reverse, and Brett Varner, who served as the company’s vice president of production, Greenlight will rebuild its reverse mortgage team with plans for growth.
“We would like to build it with a strong foundation,” Bancroft says. “My strategy is similar to how we built OMNI: Build with small teams that do larger numbers, and focus on the LOs.”
OMNI Reverse was acquired by Security One Lending in June 2009, after growing to become a top-10 originator and the largest independently owned reverse mortgage company.
Bancroft, who will lead operations for Greenlight’s reverse mortgage division, says he hopes to grow the team of loan officers organically, and will look to make new hires as well.
“We’re really excited,” he says of the timing of the launch, which coincides with the departure of former reverse mortgage giant Wells Fargo and comes just five months after Bank of America left the business. While he says it’s never good for the industry to see a major lender leave, “In this situation it feels like one big mountain to have to compare with…it seems serendipitous that Wells Fargo stepped out.”
Greenlight is licensed in 14 states and operates out of its Irvine, Calif. headquarters.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
