Mortgage chief out at Capital One

The head of Capital One Financial Corp.’s mortgage unit, Lance Melber, will leave the company, according to an internal e- mail by Melber.

Mike Dobbins, a Capital One senior vice president for retail banking, will succeed him as head of the Overland Park, Kan.-based Capital One Home Loans division Nov. 1, the company said. Melber joined Capital One in 2004, when it acquired ESmartloan, which he ran.

Shares of McLean, Va.-based Capital One rose $1.06, or 1.5%, to $71.89.

Capital One Home Loans solicited customers on the Internet and offered mortgages with introductory rates that reset higher after two or three years, a type of loan lawmakers have blamed in part for surging delinquencies and foreclosures. The bank also marketed mortgages amounting to as much as 125% of a home’s value. The loans were sold to investors rather than held on the company’s books.

Capital One, a large credit-card issuer, said Aug. 20 that it was shutting its GreenPoint Mortgage unit, which focused on “alt-A” loans that exceeded sub-prime standards without meeting standards for sale to mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae.