Another mortgage lender has opted to sell its operations, as elevated interest rates and low origination activity continue to rattle the lending industry.
Mountain West Financial, a Redlands, California-based shop founded more than 30 years ago, sold its retail assets to ML Mortgage Corp. for an undisclosed amount.
According to Mike Delehanty, the CEO of the company, ML Mortgage will acquire “the branches and loan officers of Mountain West.”
“We tried very hard to make the business profitable, but the structure of the company would not allow for it in this market,” wrote Delehanty Thursday. “We are now looking at different opportunities for the future. It was very difficult to make this decision which has affected so many people who worked here for a very long time.”
ML Mortgage did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of Thursday, Mountain West had 86 sponsored loan officers, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. It is licensed to operate in 17 states.
Most of the operations staff are not part of the acquisition, according to numerous posts on LinkedIn. It remains uncertain when production staff will officially transition over to ML Mortgage.
Prior to selling, Mountain West tried to stay afloat by making the “difficult decision” to exit the wholesale space in 2022. The company originated over $1.9 billion in 2021 with 39% of the volume coming from its wholesale channel, according to the Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Lenders 2022 rankings.
MWF’s products include conventional, USDA, Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loans and it offers down payment assistance programs.
The purchaser of Mountain West’s retail division, ML Mortgage, was founded in 2007 by Kamran Akbar. According to NMLS, the California-based mortgage lender currently sponsors 63 LOs and is licensed to operate in 15 states. ML Mortgage offers conventional, FHA, VA, reverse and USDA mortgages to consumers.
