Less than a year after coming back into the reverse mortgage business, Seattle Mortgage said it will close the division by the end of February.
An affiliate of Seattle Bank, the operation was hampered by the bank as it struggled to raise additional capital to appease federal regulators. Reports show it’s close to raising $50 million to re-captialize the bank and as part of the process, the company decided reverse mortgages were not a core business.
“The bank has reviewed all active programs upon recapitalization of the organization. As part of that process we chose to retain those we feel are core to our business objectives overall while exiting others not meeting those needs,” said Patrick F. Patrick, CEO of Seattle Bank in an email to RMD. “We enjoyed being involved with the Reverse Mortgage business over the years and especially the relationships developed as part of the process.”
Last March, the company hired Sarah Hulbert back to re-build its reverse mortgage business after it was sold to Bank of America in 2007. Hulbert brought group of employees with her and told RMD she hopes to find the team a new home as part of a different lender. “I am pleased to say there are several organizations who have expressed interest,” she said.
Seattle endorsed 54 HECM loans in 2010 according to HUD data. For more information, check out its listing on ReverseBase.
