Houston-based mortgage company Network Funding last week announced growth plans for its reverse mortgage division with close to 40 new hires including a majority of former Wells Fargo originators. The company first started in the business as a broker in 2004 and operates a reverse mortgage division including correspondent and retail lending.

In six months’ time, the company expects to be originating close to 100 loans per month.

Led by David Cook, formerly of Financial Freedom and Senior Lending Network, the division has recently added veterans Rett Babb and Shawn Fewell as reverse mortgage managers. Network funding is licensed in 39 states and has recently expanded throughout Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin with new loan officers and managers in each of those states.

“As a company, we wanted to make certain this was a commitment we could make,” Cook told RMD. “We didn’t look at this as something quick. I ran a test branch for more than a year to see if we were able to get referrals from sister branches that didn’t want to do reverse loans. We saw it had a lot of potential.”

Cook says the opportunity to work with experienced loan officers was appealing, as originators are specialized in the product.

“We wanted experienced people,” he says. “The learning curve is too steep and too long.”

Network Funding is in the process of hiring and training the new team members, with plans to rise in the ranks of the top-100 lenders in the coming months.

The company is also an approved Ginnie Mae issuer.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker