Boston-based Summit Mortgage Co. will wind down by the end of the month, with CEO Richard Fedele saying his firm “essentially faced a lack of liquidity in the mortgage-backed-securities market.”
Per the Summit Mortgage website, “The Company has been bombarded by a rapidly deteriorating mortgage environment and despite recurring capital infusions is unable to continue operations. ”
As a result, most of the lender’s 140 employees were let go and many of its offices were closed.
“This heartbreaking decision was made only after we considered all possible alternatives,” Summit CEO Richard Fedele said. “The current mortgage environment proved to be insurmountable.”
According to Fedele, Summit Mortgage shuttered its eight Boston-area offices and laid off much of the staff on Thursday.
It is believed that a skeleton crew will stay on to close out the loan pipeline, and that loan commitments will be met for applications already in progress.
“We are going to honor all of our commitments,” Fedele said.
It’s unclear whether that includes just locked loans or all loans that are currently in the system.
The mortgage lender is working towards an orderly shut down, unlike recent abrupt closures that left many borrowers high and dry.
According to their website, Summit Mortgage Co. was founded in 1996, licensed in 15 states, and saw loan originations exceed $1.2 billion in mortgage loans annually.
See the latest list of closed lenders, mortgage layoffs, mergers and rumors.