What We're Hearing

As recently as three weeks ago AmTrust Bank -- a top ranked residential wholesale lender -- was still trying to sign up brokers and correspondent lenders. One New Jersey mortgage official told me, "They were pushing me to join. They wanted the brokers to act as their retail operations." AmTrust -- formerly known as Ohio Savings and Loan -- was shut down Friday night. Meanwhile, I continue to hear reports that Lend America was refinancing customers and then not paying off their old liens. The Melville-based company apparently knows about the problem, and according to a spokesman, is trying to rectify the matter. A reader told me that his son and daughter-in-law closed on a refi with Lend America in November. "Since then, the previous mortgage holder has not received their payoff. However, they (the kids) have made their first (December) payment to Lend America, while still receiving bills from the previous mortgage holder." It's believed that Lend America, a nonbank, had only one major warehouse provider: Gateway Bank of California. This might sound like an unfair question but why did the Long Island-based Lend America have to go all the way across the country to find a warehouse financier?...