Just about two months after receiving the official approval from Ginnie Mae, Longbridge Financial, LLC issued its first Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-backed securities (HMBS).
The Mahwah, N.J.-based firm made its initial pool offering on July 28, the company announced in a press release issued Wednesday.
“The successful securitizations are the latest step in the growth of Longbridge Financial as we continue to solidify our place as a leader within the reverse mortgage industry,” CEO Chris Mayer said in the statement. “The ability to securitize supports our servicing porfolio and strengthens our commitment to offer industry-leading loan servicing.”
The two initial pools have an unpaid principal balance of $55 million in July, Mayer told RMD in an e-mail Thursday morning.
Longbridge joins 13 other active HMBS issuers, concluding a process that began last October with an initial application.
“The process of going from Ginnie Mae application to our first HMBS issuance has been quite an undertaking,” Mayer said. “It has been really important to have our experienced team at Longbridge, which has gone through the GNMA application and issuance process before and had an understanding of the requirements.”
Mayer told RMD back in June — shortly after the company announced its HMBS approval — that the goal was to both expand the HECM industry and Longbridge’s place in it.
“We know the market is really large, and we’re serving two percent of it,” Mayer said, referring to the amount of American seniors who could potentially benefit from a HECM. “Our goal as a company, certainly on the wholesale side and on the retail side, is: How can we help the industry bring more customers into the business than it’s attracting today? And how do we do that in a responsible way?”
Last fall, Longbridge also received investment support from Home Point Financial — which in June sold its reverse mortgage operation to Huron Valley Financial — as well as Ellington Financial.
Written by Alex Spanko
