BANKING : Top Mortgage Sellers
Five Orange County thrifts, led by Plaza Home Mortgage Bank in Santa Ana, were on the list of the savings and loan industry’s top 10 sellers of home mortgages for the third quarter, according to an industry periodical.
No one disputes that Plaza, an aggressive mortgage banker, would be the national leader by selling $2.1 billion in loans to Wall Street and other investors during the quarter. But several savings and loans told National Mortgage News that they weren’t sure they belonged on the list.
The second-biggest seller of mortgages, for instance, was Independence One Bank of California in Laguna Hills with $1.9 billion in loans sold. But Independence says its listing is more a function of new reporting techniques.
The savings and loan lends money to mortgage companies so they can make loans to home buyers. The companies then sell the loans. But Independence temporarily holds title to the loans after they are made but before they are sold--making it a major reseller of mortgages.
American Savings Bank in Irvine thinks the number attributed to it is too high because it apparently includes a $1.3-billion swap of loans for securities backed by those loans. The thrift isn’t sure such transactions are complete sales.
Finally, Newamerica Savings Bank in Irvine, which ranks seventh with $1.1 billion in loans sold, no longer exists. It was the conduit used by its onetime parent company, Franklin Mortgage Corp. in Irvine, to fund loans.
The tiny thrift was sold in December to California Federal Bank, a Los Angeles thrift. Franklin then was sold to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, a New York investment banking firm.
The other local thrift in the top 10 was Household Bank in Newport Beach, headquarters for a seven-state operation. Household was ranked 8th with $1 billion in loans sold.
