Great Oak Lending Partners has merged with 1st Maryland Mortgage Corp. of Damascus, MD, providing it the ability to operate as a direct lender and fund up to $25 million a month in loans said the company.
The merger combines 1st Maryland’s employees with Great Oak’s fifty eight full time employees and plans to hire an additional twenty to thirty people by the end of the year. As part of the merger, Joshua Shein was promoted to president and chief executive officer. The combined company will be called 1st Maryland Mortgage but will operate under the name Great Oak Lending Partners.
“This merger will allow us to meet all of our customers’ needs in-house, from underwriting to closing to funding loans,” Shein said. “These additional services and our predicted growth over the coming months reinforce our position as a major player in the mortgage industry.”
In an interview with RMD, Shein said the merger positions the company well in the current marketplace. “It’s becoming more difficult to operate as a broker and having the control as a direct lender is a nice edge in the marketplace,” he said.
Great Oak Lending has three offices in Maryland and operates in seven other states, but the majority of its volume comes from Maryland where it’s the largest reverse mortgage lender according to data from Reverse Market Insight. Despite only operating in a few states, the company is the 15th largest reverse mortgage lender in the country.
Shein told RMD he plans to add another seven states by the end of the year to expand outside of the Mid-Atlantic region.
The company joins other reverse mortgage lenders like Omni Reverse Mortgage and 1st Financial Reverse Mortgages, who all merged with mortgage bankers to bring underwriting and funding in house. With additional regulations coming down the road, it’s likely there will be more of these type of deals soon.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
