Astoria to Outsource Mortgage Servicing

Astoria Financial Corp., Lake Success, N.Y., has announced an outsourcing agreement with Dovenmuehle Mortgage Inc., Schaumberg, Ill., under which Dovenmuehle will subservice on a private-label basis the loan portfolio of Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Association, a subsidiary of Astoria Financial.George L. Engelke Jr., Astoria's chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said the decision was "driven entirely by economics" and was not a reflection on the servicing staff of Astoria Federal, whose loan delinquencies "have never been lower." Operating efficiency is the key consideration, he said. "Today, despite the fact that our individual mortgage loan balances are larger, the number of loans we service has decreased over the past several years, thereby lowering operating efficiency," Mr. Engelke said. The agreement will result in a pretax charge of approximately $1 million in the third quarter, the company reported. The thrift can be found online at http://www.astoriafederal.com.