Financial Freedom Loses Top Wholesale Reverse Mortgage Lender Title
April 28th, 2009 | by admin Published in Financial Freedom, JB Nutter, News, Reverse Mortgage, Top HECM Lenders | 18 Comments
RM Insight published a new report showing that JB Nutter has over taken Financial Freedom as the largest wholesale reverse mortgage lender. The data shows that over the last year, Nutter saw its wholesale business grow 76.8% compared to Financial Freedom seeing it’s volume drop 41.3%.
Below is a list of the top 10 wholesalers over the last 12 months
| Lender | Units | Growth | |
| 1 | JB Nutter | 16,715 | 76.8% |
| 2 | Financial Freedom | 16,163 | -41.3% |
| 3 | Bank of America | 9,936 | 34.5% |
| 4 | World Alliance Financial | 5,230 | 92.1% |
| 5 | MetLife | 4,914 | 147.3% |
| 6 | Generation Mortgage | 1,883 | 243.6% |
| 7 | Sun West Mortgage Company | 1,643 | -19.7% |
| 8 | Genworth Financial | 1,544 | 476.1% |
| 9 | Urban Financial | 1,400 | 471.4% |
| 10 | Wells Fargo | 1,022 | 882.7% |
- Retail volume by direct lenders increased 33.4% from February to March, while broker volume through the Wholesale channel increased 15.4%
- A big part of this is due to a re-surgence by Wells Fargo in March, with a 700+ endorsement improvement from February to March that was bigger than total volume for all but the top 5 lenders in March. Endorsements can be volatile due to insuring delays and other issues, but it’s still a pretty impressive boost.
- Over the last 12 months there have only been 2 where Retail volume outpaced Wholesale: March 2009 and May 2008. We’ll be watching closely to see if the trend lasts, as I suspect many brokers might be also…
Check out the graph below which shows the nosedive that started in 2007 for Financial Freedom’s wholesale business. Ouch.
To read the entire report and analysis see the link below.
- Related Posts
- Generation Mortgage’s Wholesale Business Sees Growth in 2009
- Top Wholesale Reverse Mortgage Lenders of 2009 Update
- Generation and Genworth’s Wholesale Business Benefits From Nutter’s Problems
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April 28th, 2009 at 1:03 pm (#)
The sharp up and down movement of Financial Freedom’s production corresponds to Michelle Minier’s notorious mood swings.
April 28th, 2009 at 2:32 pm (#)
I think FF ia a dead man walking
April 28th, 2009 at 4:54 pm (#)
Reverse Mortgage Mariachi: The up and down lines are insuring backups or a great disparity in the number of HECMs being insured each month. I get your joke, but just in case you really wanted to know. In theory you could judge the overall operations of the company by how rough or smooth their insuring line is. This is a very crude measuring device and I am sure there will be people who disagree, but overall it is true. Smooth orginizations insure production on a steady basis, always leaving time to get every file done. Occasionally insuring does get backed up, but it shouldn’t be that often.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:56 pm (#)
Look at MetLife’s line. Nice and smooth, like their operation. P.S. I don’t work for metlife.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:33 pm (#)
You would only get the joke if you’ve worked in an office with Michelle. ‘Tyrant’ is putting it mildly. Are you ex-FF?
April 29th, 2009 at 6:08 am (#)
Metlife is more like OVERWHELMED and UNDERSTAFFED at this point, a simple answer from an UW is taking weeks, it used to be the next day.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:29 am (#)
Thank you Financial Freedom for the nose dive. Lots more business for those of us who know how to treat customers and employees with dignity and respect.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:00 am (#)
I have the cleanest, sweetest deal in with FF and a first time user, five yes thats 5 weeks and I still can’t get an answer to when it will close, the rep is a donkey, more attitude than help. This will be my first and last deal going to them. I hope they sink like a lead balloon.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:12 am (#)
I have 5 deals in with FF right now. The last one submitted 3 weeks ago. It’s currently taking “19″ days (that is business days not calendar days) for UW. That is on top of 2 days for registration, 2 days for conditions clearing and 2 days to get your closing docs. At least that is what their turn times Lender Alert says. Actually, I sent in a final inspection 4 days ago and have heard “Nada”. I was told this morning by a FF employee that the turn times posted are an estimate. I have 7 more loans in process and I can guarantee you they won’t get those. Asta La Veesta Baby !!!!!! I sure hate it because I have many years of success with them in the past.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am (#)
They have wrecked my business and they have severly hurt my customers. No matter what I do or say nothing happens. It is horrible and it will badly hurt our industry. Whoever was so stupid to close their California operations and drown Atlanta should loose their job and be fined. My guess is it will get bad enough that the Feds will have to take action.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:44 pm (#)
JB Nutter deserves the top spot. Their service is outstanding and their staff are knowledgeable and friendly. When they tell you 24 hour turnaround for underwriting, it happens.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
That seems like a red flag to me. JB Nutter underwrittes every file within 24 hours of receipt? Every time? Does anyone else wonder if the rubber “approved” stamp ever makes an appearance to speed things up?
April 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am (#)
I made a personl statment on 4/29 about FF which I have to say was inaccurate & over done. I had some recent frustration with a file there, but I do not dislike the rep and I look forward to continuing reverse mortgage business with them long term. My deepest apologies.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:32 pm (#)
Mark Draper – Don’t apologize! (oh right, that donkey still has your file) Please re-Insult them (correctly so!) as soon as it funds!
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 am (#)
[...] Financial Freedom Loses Top Wholesale Reverse Mortgage Lender Title [...]
April 28th, 2010 at 8:27 am (#)
I will say this only once, if you are still using FF to underwrite your reverse mortgages – you have got to get your head in the game. It's been years since they've been a serious player. Try ONE..ANY other lender just one time and you will see the difference. As a former wholesale employee, I'm floored by the number of broker who still use them. Wake up people, it's way easier than you think if your still using FF. Go look.
April 28th, 2010 at 3:27 pm (#)
I will say this only once, if you are still using FF to underwrite your reverse mortgages – you have got to get your head in the game. It’s been years since they’ve been a serious player. Try ONE..ANY other lender just one time and you will see the difference. As a former wholesale employee, I’m floored by the number of broker who still use them. Wake up people, it’s way easier than you think if your still using FF. Go look.
July 7th, 2010 at 5:25 am (#)
[...] on a Reverse Market Insights’ report, Reverse Mortgage Daily points out a significant shift in the reverse mortgage market: JB Nutter has over taken Financial Freedom as the largest wholesale reverse mortgage lender. The [...]