SunTrust Investing in ABA Mortgage Cooperative

The American Bankers Association has signed up SunTrust Mortgage as a "preferred" secondary market investor for its mortgage cooperative, Community Bank Mortgage LLC. The 53-owner banks of the ABA cooperative can now sell residential mortgages, including jumbo loans, on a servicing-released basis to SunTrust. Community Bank Mortgage LLC has two other preferred investors, Wells Fargo Home Loans and Bank of America. Debbie Whiteside, president and chief operating officer of Community Bank Mortgage LLC, said SunTrust has a "viable" jumbo loan program and it will purchase fixed-rate and adjustable rate jumbo mortgages. Wells Fargo purchases only fixed-rate mortgages. "We anticipate that our new partnership with SunTrust Mortgage will have an immediate and positive impact on our owner banks," she said. ABA is a co-owner in the cooperative that was formed in 2007. Community Bank Mortgage LLC paid $2.8 million in bonuses to its owners in 2009.