Essex Mortgage to assume 2 offices of Envision Lending Group

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Source URL http://ml-implode.com/imploded...

Mortgage lender Essex Mortgage plans to absorb two branches and offer jobs to some employees of mortgage broker Envision Lending Group, which is going out of business, said Essex President Roland Weedon.

Weedon told SNL that he has been in talks to take over Envision's branches in Orem, Utah, and in Las Vegas.

"It really isn't a deal," Weedon said Nov. 2. "They came in and said 'Look, we're closing our doors,' and I said 'Fine, we'll take over those two locations.'"

At this point, Weedon said, Essex is in the process of deciding which former Envision employees will join the company. He estimated that about 20 processors and 200 loan officers could be considered.

Switching from a mortgage broker to a direct lender will mean a lot of changes for the employees, Weedon said. "But a lot of them seem to want to make that switch anyway, based on the climate in Nevada and in Utah," he said.

The arrangements will be finalized during the next few weeks, Weedon said.

Weedon said he is not completely sure why Envision decided to close. "Obviously there's so much going on with the brokering community these days, and it's becoming harder and harder to be a broker," he said.

SNL's efforts to reach Envision management for comment were unsuccessful. The mortgage broker is based in South Jordan, Utah. According to its Web site, the company was licensed in 18 states and had more than 1,100 loan professionals and offices in Arizona, California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter blog reported Oct. 29 that Envision was closing and being "merged to" another company.

Citing what it said was an Oct. 27 memo from Envision President Amy Anderson, the blog reported the company has been trying to make an arrangement with a correspondent lender or bank for some time.

Weedon emphasized to SNL that Orange, Calif.-based Essex is not taking over Envision, but assuming two offices and some employees.