AmeriSave cuts wholesale channel

Atlanta-based AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. is exiting its wholesale channel, joining a growing list of players in the lending space reacting to a diminishing market. 

AmeriSave Wholesale Mortgage Solutions locked its last loans Friday and will close and fund its remaining pipeline by the end of October, according to its website. The move included a layoff of an unknown number of workers, according to former employees' LinkedIn posts.

"We have made the strategic decision to exit wholesale lending at this time in order to focus our resources on our core business of consumer direct and retail lending as well as our solar, insurance and realty offerings, all of which align with our mission of making homeownership more affordable," said the company in a statement. 

A team will stay on to fulfill the remaining pipeline, according to AWMS' website. A spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up Monday asking how many staffers were laid off. The news was first reported by HousingWire.

The wholesale division has 106 employees and is based in Plymouth, Minnesota, according to its LinkedIn profile. AmeriSave had not filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification in Minnesota, as it is not required in that state. It also did not file a WARN notice in Georgia, where they are required from companies with staff totalling 100 or more in that state.  

AmeriSave launched its wholesale channel last June and funded more than $1.3 billion in its first six months of operations, according to a press release earlier this year. It operated in 49 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. Its parent company, founded in 2002, closed $36 billion in loan volume across nearly 130,000 refinances and purchase loans, the company said. 

It's the third lender in the last month to announce its exit from its wholesale channel, following similar decisions by loanDepot and Redlands, California-based Mountain West Financial. It's also the latest lender to announce layoffs, with dozens of companies in various mortgage roles cutting thousands of employees as interest rates rise and refinances continue their sharp decline. 

Leaders in the wholesale space meanwhile are engaging in a price war to entice borrowers. United Wholesale Mortgage is shaving up to 1 percentage point on all product types, it announced in June, while Homepoint is cutting 75 basis points from conforming conventional loans for borrowers in select neighborhoods across 20 states.