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Now that they work for a federally regulated bank, more than 400 loan officers with Houston, Texas-based Cornerstone Home Lending can originate mortgages in 37 states and the District of Columbia — without having to obtain licenses in individual states.
Cornerstone Home Lending, formerly an independent mortgage company, became a division of Cornerstone Capital Bank in October after completing an acquisition and merger with Roscoe State Bank. In addition to enabling Cornerstone to offer new products and services, the merger was touted as a path for increasing customer engagement to more than 500,000 U.S. families and mortgage referral sources served by Cornerstone.
Now, Cornerstone Home Lending says it has completed a strategic initiative that allows its sales teams to serve families across the country. In conjunction with in-house mortgage loan servicing operations and new banking products and services, Cornerstone says it’s positioned to be a leader in the mortgage industry.
Adam Laird
After the merger with Roscoe State Bank closed, “our skilled teams swiftly enhanced internal technology to promote production growth across the country for our loan officers through expanded lending areas, specialty portfolio loan products, training, and other services,” Cornerstone Home Lending CEO Adam Laird said in a statement.
Laird was named CEO of mortgage banking in the wake of the merger, with responsibility for overseeing Cornerstone’s national mortgage lending origination and servicing business.
Mortgage loan originators employed by state-licensed companies typically have to obtain licenses in each state they want to do business. Originators employed by banks, credit unions and other federally regulated depository institutions are registered as federal mortgage loan originators and can make loans wherever their company does business.
According to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, Cornerstone Capital Bank employs 450 mortgage loan originators and is licensed to make mortgage loans in most states. Some notable exceptions include Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Last April, Cornerstone announced it would bring its mortgage loan servicing in-house, using software provided by Black Knight Inc. to collect payments on new loan originations.
Loan servicing involves not only collecting monthly payments from borrowers but also helping them avoid default in tough times. Many lenders outsource servicing to companies that specialize in it, but it’s increasingly seen as a dependable source of revenue.
Because loan servicers have details about each borrower’s interest rate and loan balance, they’re well positioned to offer homeowners refinancing when opportunities arise or help them finance a new home purchase.
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