BB&T to Remain in Warehouse

BB&T Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., likely has eased the minds of many mortgage originators by stating it plans to remain in the mortgage warehouse lending business. The company has named Jeff Ellison as president of its mortgage warehouse lending division, located in Orlando. BB&T, which had been a small warehouse player, picked up the operations of Colonial Bank after the latter's failure. The terms of the transaction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. required BB&T to stay in the business for one year. BB&T commercial finance president Robert Fentress, commented in a statement, "This is a commercial product that dovetails nicely with our retail mortgage business. After evaluating the business model, we plan to continue in the mortgage warehouse lending business. We feel it offers excellent growth opportunities given our client relationship model." Mr. Ellison started at BB&T in 1984. He most recently served as senior credit officer in the company's East Florida Region.