Mini-Shake-Up at LendingTree's Mortgage Unit

Home Loan Center, Irvine, Calif., the mortgage arm of LendingTree LLC, has dismissed its head of production, and another executive, MortgageWire has learned.A source familiar with the situation confirmed that production chief Sean Wilson has left the firm along with Peter McDonald, who was described by the source as being "just shy of executive level." A spokeswoman for LendingTree declined to comment on the situation. LendingTree, an online exchange that boasts it can get the best loan rate for consumers, bought Home Loan Center, a mortgage banker, in September 2004. Last month, a class action lawsuit was filed against both LendingTree and HLC alleging that there is no competition at LendingTree, and that the company uses the website to generate leads for HLC. LendingTree argues that the suit is without merit and has vowed to fight it vigorously. The two companies are owned by the publicly traded IAC/Interactive, New York, whose chief executive officer is media titan Barry Diller.