DALLAS, May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Caliber Funding, LLC (“Caliber”), a leading national retail, wholesale and consumer direct mortgage lender, today announced that it will take part in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Secondary Market Conference & Expo starting May 5, 2013, to be held at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York City. At the conference, Caliber will introduce its new correspondent lending channel, which will expand its production capacity and allow it to provide more competitive product offerings to customers.

As previously announced, on January 17, 2013, Caliber and Vericrest Financial entered into a merger agreement. Caliber’s entry into the correspondent lending channel supports the combined company’s goal to create a full-service, consumer-focused residential mortgage banking organization offering both loan origination and loan servicing solutions.

Caliber’s new correspondent lending channel will enable the Company to leverage its state-of-the-art technology to provide multiple product offerings and excellent customer service to an even broader customer base. Caliber is also investing in two fulfillment centers in Florence, South Carolina and Irving, Texas to ensure efficient and exemplary customer service for its partners and customers.

“The departure of several large correspondent investors left a significant void in supply, and therefore there is a tremendous opportunity for independent mortgage lenders like Caliber,” said Jim Ferriter, President of Caliber. “As an agency-approved lender, Caliber is not only well positioned to meet this demand, but is also able to play a role in the revitalization of the secondary market. We brought in a team of top-notch professionals to build this new service offering, and we look forward to a successful and seamless implementation.”

“The team we brought on to lead our correspondent channel is exceptionally talented and experienced. I would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication to making this launch possible,” said Joe Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Vericrest Financial. As previously announced, Mr. Anderson will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the combined organization.

The correspondent lending team will be led by:

• Patricia Shumate, Senior Vice President of Correspondent Lending. Ms. Shumate joins Caliber with over 20 years of correspondent lending experience. Previously, Ms. Shumate was Managing Director at Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company (PNMAC) where she played an instrumental role in the creation of PNMAC’s correspondent lending channel.
• Tag Gallaher, Vice President of Correspondent Operations. Mr. Gallaher joins Caliber with over 12 years of correspondent operations experience. Mr. Gallaher was previously with Lender Processing Services (LPS) as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Consulting Services.
• Pat Gilmore, Vice President of Correspondent Sales. Mr. Gilmore has over 24 years of mortgage experience, including 12 years in sales and 9 years in sales management.

About Caliber Funding
Caliber Funding LLC is a national residential mortgage lender that originates loans through various channels and transaction types including a network of retail branches, wholesale lending, correspondent & mini-correspondent lending, and a consumer direct centralized operational center. Caliber was founded in 2008 by Lone Star Funds, a global private equity fund and specializes in a variety of loan programs for purchases and refinances including conforming, jumbo, and government products. Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Caliber now originates an average of $750 million each month and anticipates continued rapid growth in the coming months and years. Caliber employs over 1240 mortgage lending professionals nationwide inclusive of over 330 loan originators in 88 retail branches, 68 Wholesale Account Executives serving over 1000 active broker partners, and 8 Correspondent Sales Directors. To learn more about Caliber Funding, please visit www.caliberfunding.com. (NMLS # 80636).

SOURCE Caliber Funding, LLC