Less than a year after coming back into the reverse mortgage business, Seattle Mortgage said it will close the division by the end of February. An affiliate of Seattle Bank, the operation was hampered by the bank as it struggled to raise additional capital to appease federal regulators.  Reports show it’s close to raising $50 [...]

Lawsuits can bring out some interesting information and the latest against Seattle Mortgage is a perfect example. Bank of America acquired Seattle Mortgage’s reverse mortgage division in 2007 which included a portfolio of over $4 billion reverse mortgages, approximately 400 SMC employees as well as a retail sales force of more than 200 associates in [...]

The Puget Sound Business Journal is reporting that Seattle Mortgage Co., a unit of Seattle Bank, has been hit with a lawsuit in California that claims illegal activities in its reverse mortgage business. According to court documents, the plaintiff, Mary Labrador alleges that Seattle Mortgage was illegally paying fees to its mortgage brokers and overcharging borrowers on [...]

When Bank of America completed the purchase of Countrywide in July, there was no mention of what would happen each companies reverse mortgage mortgage divisions.  If you take a look at last months HECM endorsements, Countrywide was the third largest originator of HECMs and Bank of America was fifth.  Together the two companies become the [...]

According to an article recently published by National Mortgage News, David Peskin, CEO of Vertical Lend said that the company is slated to be renamed World Alliance Financial.  The announcement comes after KBC Bank agreed to buy Vertical Lend, a reverse mortgage retail/wholesale lender and lead aggregator based out of Melville, NY.  “We believe that [...]

According to a press release issued on June 29th, Bank of America has completed the acquisition of Seattle Mortgage’s reverse mortgage division.  BofA made the announcement to acquire Seattle Mortgage back in April.  Colin McCormick, BofA’s Reverse Mortgage Product executive commented, “Seattle Mortgage has been the gold standard in the reverse mortgage industry. We are excited [...]