No Move by PNC on Nat City Division

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has so far made little effort to sell the warehouse lending division it inherited from National City Corp., but it has fielded several inquiries on the platform, according to warehouse officials.

One source close to the situation said PNC is reacting to offers from a "handful of parties." He added that "nothing is imminent" regarding a sale, but said there is "some optimism" among the employees who run the group.

A PNC spokesman said he would not speculate on what the Pittsburgh banking company will do with National City's warehouse platform except to say that it plans to let the existing lines "wind down" over the next 12 months. "It doesn't fit with our existing business," he said.

At June 30, National City (which PNC bought late last year) ranked second in terms of warehouse commitments with $2.3 billion in lines. The nation's largest warehouse provider, Colonial Bank of Montgomery, Ala., failed this summer and was sold with federal assistance to BB&T Corp.

BB&T, which was already a warehouse provider, has not talked publicly about its plans for the division, but has vowed to keep some of Colonial's lines going.

Nonbank mortgage lenders fear their business will suffer in the months ahead if new entrants do not step forward to fill the coming void that will be left by National City and Colonial.

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