Mortgage Informer

Expansion isn’t associated with mortgage lenders lately, but a Columbus company is bucking the industry slowdown.

Residential Finance Corp. plans to hire 75 to 100 workers in the third quarter, adding to its staff of 275 workers. Most of the jobs will be staffed in the area, where the company employs 220 workers, and some will be added to Residential Finance’s office in Tampa, Fla.

Neither Columbus nor Tampa, in states that have taken devastating hits from the nation’s mortgage crisis, seem like growth markets for mortgage lenders, but the company attributed its survival to a diverse portfolio.

“A lot of lenders in the past couple of years really jumped on the subprime bandwagon … but Residential Finance took more of a conservative approach several years back,” said spokeswoman Jessica Manna.

That approach meant making subprime loans a small slice of its business, focusing instead of government-backed loans. Residential Finance plans to take much of the same approach, working particularly with Federal Housing Administration loans and reverse mortgages, a rapidly growing area for the company.

“We’re going to continue expanding out two locations, and it’s a fantastic time to do that given how many talented loan officers and other employees … are now looking for work,” Manna said.

Residential Finance estimates the housing slowdown has put more than 200 lenders out of business and led to nearly 1,000 job cuts in Ohio alone.

The company recorded $22 million in revenue last year and projects about $30 million in revenue for 2008.

Related posts:

• Growing Mortgage Lender Residential Finance Corp
• CIT to shed $10 bln mortgage assets, shares jump
• Stirrings in the Mortgage Market
• Mortgage Rates on 30-Year U.S. Loans Rise to 5.01%
• Why Were Mortgage Warnings Ignored?

Tags: mortgage lenders