Lomas Financial Ends Trek from No. 1 to Zilch

Lomas Financial Corp., Dallas, has gone from servicing more than $32 billion to zero in less than six months.

The battered mortgage company, which once reigned over the industry, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in less than four years, and sold all of its remaining assets to a unit of First Nationwide Bank, San Francisco.

At the end of 1994, Lomas was the No. 19 servicer, with a portfolio of $32 billion. The sale of the last of its assets at the beginning of October brought its servicing volume to zero.

But as of the end of June, the closing date for the accompanying tables, it still had $32 billion in its portfolio and had actually moved up a notch, to No. 18, mostly because of consolidation of larger companies.

In January 1992, when Lomas emerged from its first bankruptcy filing, it had a servicing portfolio of $30 billion.

In 1994, after having suffered substantial losses during the refinance boom of 1992 and 1993, Lomas put itself on the auction block. It has been selling itself in pieces ever since.

The first piece to go was Lomas' information systems company, sold to Prudential Mortgage. That unit is back on the block, as Pru sells off its mortgage assets.

First Nationwide bought part of the servicing portfolio in two pieces, the last of which finished off the sale of Lomas assets.

Topping the list of mortgage servicers takes more volume now than when Lomas was king. Today some servicing portfolios exceed $100 billion.

As Lomas & Nettleton Financial Corp., Lomas was the top mortgage company for 17 consecutive years. Newcomer GMAC Mortgage Corp. displaced it at yearend 1985.

The next year, its first as No. 2, Lomas serviced $20.2 billion in mortgage loans.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER