BB&T Unit Exits Wholesale, Will Push Correspondent

Liberty Mortgage Corp., a division of Branch, Banking & Trust, is exiting the wholesale channel, a move that will lead to the bank ramping up both its correspondent and warehouse lending divisions, National Mortgage News has learned. Late Wednesday, a spokeswoman for BB&T called the change a realignment of the bank's "resources" noting that it will bolster the warehouse unit it inherited when the bank bought Colonial Bank last summer. "We believe that now is the time to focus on growing that business," she said. At press time, no further details were available. BB&T already ranks ninth among correspondent funders, according to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report. NMN broke the news about Liberty exiting wholesale earlier in the day. Even though Liberty is exiting the channel, it will honor loan commitments as long as the mortgage closes before Aug. 1. "There will be no extensions beyond July 31," the memo says. Liberty and BB&T are based in North Carolina.