Mortgage Investors Group (MIG) - Wholesale - Wholesale Lending Division

Update 10:33 AM, August 24: We have received an official statement from MIG that explains the current shift in their business. See below to "Official Statement":

Sources have sent in an announcment by Mortgage Investors Group (MIG) that MIG is exiting their Wholesale channel. Per the following announcement, no new submissions will be accepted and all approved loans must be locked by tomorrow:

Attention Brokers

Effective today, August 23rd, 2007, Mortgage Investors Group has made the decision to exit the wholesale business. All existing loans must fund by September 14, 2007. All approved loans that meet current guidelines must be locked by close of business Friday, August 24, 2007. We have agonized over this decision, and unfortunately at the end of the day it was our only option. Recent drastic market changes have resulted in an inability to foresee profits in the near future.

We recently have made tremendous strides in wholesale, and try as we may the market conditions continued to deteriorate. We want to stress that this is not a result of the dedicated employees and leadership we have in the wholesale channel.

Effective today, no new submissions or locks will be considered. Maximum lock term will be 15 days. No extensions will be granted to existing pipeline. We are assembling a top notch transition team to assist our broker community in finalizing the remaining pipeline. We are confident that we will work together to provide a smooth transition for the borrowers and brokers for loans that are in process. We are confident that the transition team will be able to complete the delivery of loans that have been closed to our investors. We want to stress that we have no issues with our ability to fund the remaining loans.

One informant noted the following regarding MIG Wholesale:

Shuttered wholesale today:
www.migonline.com
They had three branches: Sac, Lake Oswego, Phoenix

We are still accumulating the details regarding how many employees will be affected by this closure as well as MIG Wholesale's peak monthly loan volume. We have learned that MIG continues to support it's Direct Lending business, which is explained below per their official statement.

Official Statement:

August 24, 2007

RE: Wholesale operations

Dear [ML-IMPLODE]:

Knoxville based Mortgage Investors Group will be closing four (4) wholesale offices in the Western region and cutting 75 jobs in California, Arizona, and Oregon. Recent product restrictions, dropping property values, and general margin compression have resulted in our inability to see sufficient volume in the future to sustain this region. Our focus will remain on our growing and more traditional retail and Direct Lending originations in the southeast which have experienced a 25% growth in volume in 2007.

Our retail and Direct Lending channels remain profitable and strong. The traditional products that these channels offer have resulted in growth and opportunity for continued success.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Tonkin, President
Mortgage Investors Group

Update, Aug 31, 2007: A reader writes in to note that we apparently missed the closure of the Irvine branch of MIG:

Hey there, just wanted to let you know that you missed the Irvine branch in your list of MIG wholesale offices that closed. I worked there with about 20 or so people at the end. When I was hired in 2005, the office had over 50 people working there.

"Our bad."