Triumph Savings Bank, Dallas, this week hired industry veteran Barry Epstein to manage its new warehouse lending division, and plans to cater its effort to small nondepository mortgage bankers.
"I just started here yesterday," said Epstein, who during his career has worked for such firms as Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., and Freedom Mortgage, Mt. Laurel, N.J. (At Ocwen he was in charge of correspondent lending.)
Epstein estimates that Triumph will cut its first warehouse line of credit some time in April. "We believe there is a real opportunity out there to lend to small mortgage banking firms," he told National Mortgage News. "They may consolidate but they're going to survive."
The company operates mostly as a wholesale bank, though it does have two branches. The lender changed hands late last year and was sold to a private equity group.
