Imperial Credit Expands Easy Way : Lending: Newport Beach mortgage banker diversifies by taking on 90 staff members of a failed New Jersey thrift.

Imperial Credit Industries Inc., a mortgage banker in Newport Beach, announced Monday that it has found a quick and relatively inexpensive way to diversify its residential real estate loans outside California. It simply hired the mortgage banking staff of a failed East Coast thrift.

When the federal government took over Carteret Savings Bank of Morristown, N.J., earlier this month, Imperial Credit saw an opportunity to bring some well-connected employees on board.

“We now have intact 90 people who already have business relationships that would have taken us years to develop,” said H. Wayne Snavely, chairman and chief executive officer of Imperial Credit.

The agreement is strictly between Imperial Credit and the employees, Snavely said, and does not involve the assumption of any Carteret assets or debts.

“We saved nearly 100 jobs in New Jersey, and we also filled the void for home buyers that was left by Carteret,” Snavely said.

Imperial Credit, which went public in May, is a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Imperial Bank. Before the expansion, it employed 420 people.

Carteret’s mortgage banking division originated about $1 billion in home loans this year; Imperial Credit tallied $3.2 billion worth of loans.

The former Carteret employees will relocate to Imperial Credit’s four new offices in New Jersey and Florida. Imperial Credit also has offices in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Virginia, although 80% of its loans are made in California, said Richard Johnson, chief financial officer.

California’s sagging real estate market motivated Imperial Credit to diversify, Johnson said. “The Eastern Seaboard is rebounding, whereas California is still hurting,” he said.