Former Subprime Chief Looking at Jumbo Market

Bob Howard, an industry veteran who has worked in both the prime and nonprime sectors, is working with a nonbank lender to enter the jumbo market. Howard, who last summer sold his stake in Safe Harbor Mortgage of Oregon to his partner, said he could not identify the nonbank lender at this time but is trying to secure warehouse financing for the company. He is finding the task difficult. "We have a take-out and the capital," he said, "but finding a warehouse lender to fund jumbos is taking some time." Howard is a member of the lender's board. Even though liquidity has returned to the warehouse sector, most of the banks in the space are only financing mortgages that are slated for sale to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or carry guarantees from the Government National Mortgage Association. During his career, Howard has worked for Southern Pacific Funding, and Sunset Direct Lending, both nonprime non-depositories. (For the full story, see the current weekly edition of National Mortgage News.)