Wells Fargo’s head of retail home lending to join Home Point

Wells Fargo’s head of retail home lending, Perry Hilzendeger, is leaving the company to become president of mortgage servicing for nonbank wholesaler Home Point Financial.

Hilzendeger was a senior vice president in real estate servicing for Wells Fargo from December 2007 to March 2018 before taking the role he’s currently departing. The bank has not named a replacement for him. Home Point retains the servicing on 99% of the mortgages it funds.

Hilzendeger’s departure follows a series of broader organizational and personnel changes at Wells, and his hiring by Home Point is reflective of increased momentum in the mortgage broker channel as consumer demand has surged in response to lower rates.

Changes within leadership in Wells Fargo’s mortgage division followed its hiring of Michael Weinbach as CEO of consumer lending. He was previously JPMorgan Chase’s head of home lending.

Weinbach’s hiring was part of a broader reorganization in February. JPMorgan Chase subsequently named Mark O’Donovan, another consumer finance executive who had been CEO of the auto division, as Weinbach’s successor.

Last month, Wells announced the retirement of its home lending chief, Michael DeVito, and hired Kristy Fercho — the president of Flagstar Bank’s mortgage unit — to replace him.

While the lower mortgage rates the policymakers instituted to offset the impact of the coronavirus have bolstered originations, higher loan-loss reserves set aside in response to the effect of the virus on the economy have been a concern for depositories.

Wells also recently made personnel changes in risk management and will likely be monitoring that aspect of its mortgage business closely.