Generation Mortgage announced this week it is expanding its retail reverse mortgage business into Puerto Rico.
Generation, a Top-10 lender and the largest privately-owned reverse mortgage company in the U.S., has opened a branch office in San, Juan, Puerto Rico, to market and service reverse mortgage loans throughout the island.
“We’re very excited about being the first Top-10 reverse mortgage lender to open a retail branch in Puerto Rico,” said Scott Peters, President and CEO of Generation Mortgage. “Puerto Rico boasts a home ownership rate of 74% versus 67% in the United States. Additionally, 29% of the households in Puerto Rico have at least one person 65 and older compared to 23% in the U.S. We’ll be providing older homeowners in Puerto Rico a safe way to access the equity in their home to obtain cash for use as they think best, and still remain in their home.”
Luis Alberto De Jesús will lead the Puerto Rico operation for Generation. De Jesús brings experience from Senior Mortgage Bankers, where he aided in expanding the reverse mortgage business to the territory.
“It’s tremendously exciting to bring to the Puerto Rican market a financial solution that could literally change the life of a senior in financial need, and Generation Mortgage has a long and proud history of being the leader in customer service in this industry,” he said.
The company says it expects to grow volume to serve the population and staff accordingly.
Generation will face strong competition in Puerto Rico where two lenders occupy the lion’s share of the market there. Money House Inc. posted 587 reverse mortgage loans in 2010 and Senior Mortgage Bankers Inc. closed 561, according to data from ReverseBase. The third-largest lender there closed 120 loans during the year.
Atlanta-based Generation closed 1,414 reverse mortgages in 2010, according to ReverseBase.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
