Chase Announces Major Ramp Up of Retail Loan Officers

Chase — which shuttered its residential wholesale network in January — is going full bore into retail lending, announcing new plans to hire 1,200 additional loan officers by the end of 2010. Chase currently employs 1,925 LOs in its 5,200 branches. According to the Quarterly Data Report, Chase currently ranks third among all retail lenders, trailing Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Asked about the expansion, a spokesman for the Iselin, N.J.-based lender told National Mortgage News that, "We see the mortgage business as core to our relationship with consumers and expect to be a major leader in the industry for many years to come." He added that the company, a subsidiary of financial services giant JPMorgan Chase, has invested in "new systems, grown our capacity, and now we're looking to increase our sales force." Chase, he noted, is looking to improve access to mortgage expertise at the local level. "We think it's important to have a mortgage officer located at the branches that our customers can go and talk to." In addition, he said the company would hire LOs to work out of their homes or central offices in areas where branches are not present, such as Boston, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. He said these LOs would receive the same professional support as those working in the branches.