Bayview Lending Group, LLC - Commercial Lending

We reported on mass layoffs announced in a conference call held for Silver Hill Financial, one of the three subsidiary business channels of the commercial mortgage lending company Bayview Lending Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Bayview Financial Holdings, L.P. All regional offices and their sales reps were cut, with additional staff layoffs to follow today. Only two offices will remain open, their headquarters in Coral Gables, FL and another office in Pompano Beach, FL (Broward). Employees were told they would receive severance packets on Thursday, 2008-04-03. The other units, Interbay Funding, LLC and Bayview's Commercial Direct division, also saw cuts.

A tipster told us about the 2008-04-01 11 am (EST) call. Confirming much of the info we heard, Forum posters have added their own commentary:

"Silver has shut down all of their regional offices which includes Chicago, Boston, Denver, Las Vegas and Austin. From what I was told they are reducing their workforce by almost 67%.They take only small balance commercial loans, no resi at all. They are also scaling back on the Pompino and Broward total employment, however, they are going to try to weather the storm."

As for Interbay:

"Interbay- is the stated income/stated asset side of Bayview lending group. They still exist but like Silverhill in a drastically smaller capacity.

Today the Plantation Florida office was closed, as was the Denver Colorado office. The outside sales staff was eliminated, save 4 individuals. The outbound call center was also cut to just 5 employees. The offices in Burbank, Ft Washington, PA. and in Mannesfield MA all were effected with major layoffs as well.

The company is still in business although the lending matrix is a shell of what it used to be. Will be very difficult to fund loans with them ..."

We called the corporate office to inquire further, but they refused to comment on the layoffs and office closures. No specifics for the Retail arm (Commercial Direct) were available at the time of this posting.

There is a brief description of each unit on Bayview's web site:

InterBay Funding provides sub-million dollar wholesale lending in the U.S., the UK, and Canada through mortgage brokers, focusing on stated income/stated asset transactions.

Silver Hill Financial offers small-balance commercial loans up to $1.5 million through mortgage brokers, targeting borrowers who have more documentation available and providing a more flexible underwriting process than most banks.

Commercial Direct offers retail mortgage lending direct to the consumer over the web, via telephone and through a network of dedicated representatives throughout the country.

Read more on the forum thread here. Click on one of the following links to contact us if you can provide additional details about Interbay, SilverHill or Commercial Direct.