Temple Taking $13M Hit on Mortgage Ops

Temple Inland Corp., Austin, Texas, will take a $13 million after-tax hit on its mortgage business in the third quarter as it prepares reserves related to key asset sales and layoffs.Temple, the parent of Guaranty Residential Lending, is in the process of selling its 100-branch nonbank mortgage network, as well as $8 billion in servicing rights. Temple, a paper products company, said some 1,500 employees will be "affected" by the sale of the branches and the servicing. However, it would not comment on any layoffs. A Temple spokesman said the company hopes employees working in the branches being sold will have an opportunity to retain their jobs. The company expects to complete the servicing and branch sale by the end of the fourth quarter. As recently reported by National Mortgage News, at least 30 firms have expressed interest in the network or regional pieces of it. First Horizon Home Loans, Irving, Texas, is believed to be the winning bidder on the West Coast operation. Aegis Mortgage of Houston has expressed interest in the network.