New Chief In CU Mortgages

MT. LAUREL, N.J. - (10/04/05) -- PHH Corp., which was spun off fromCendant earlier this year, said it had agreed to acquire themortgage assets from CUNA Mutual Group, making it the largestmortgage bank for credit unions. Under the deal, PHH, which alreadyprovides mortgage services for as many as 500 credit unions, willtake on the 1,400 served by CUNA Mutual Mortgage Co. and the $11billion in credit union-originated mortgages being serviced by CUNAMutual. As reported in Monday's Credit Union Journal Daily, thesale of the mortgage assets was part of an overall review of thecompany undertaken by new CEO Jeff Post. "This is the first step increating the new CUNA Mutual," Rick Uhlmann, spokesman for thecredit union insurer, told The Credit Union Journal. "We wentthrough a months'-long evaluation and decided we need to focus onour core competencies, where we can be the best." PHH, long aplayer in credit union mortgages, was acquired by Cendant, thenspun off again in February as publicly traded company. The companyhas a servicing portfolio of almost $150 billion in mortgages,ranking it 11th largest in the country, according to NationalMortgage News. The acquisition of CUNA Mutual's mortgage operationswill significantly expand the credit union market for PHH Mortgageand immediately make it the top mortgage lender in the credit unionmarket. After completion of the deal, CUNA Mutual said it expectsto phase out the 160 jobs in the mortgage operation in the Madisonsuburb of Fitchburg.

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