Nobody expects much good to come of a thudding new rulebook of federal regulations, but the passage of 2010 SAFE Act, part of the post-crash attempts to tighten the screws on the mortgage industry, has created one unanticipated benefit: allowing us here at Banker & Tradesman to acknowledge some of the best and brightest mortgage industry professionals in Massachusetts in what has been a very tough market, in this, our inaugural top loan originators rankings.
Working with National Mortgage Licensing System data as well as land records, the data gurus of The Warren Group have tabulated the most productive loan originators in the state for the first time. Due to slight differences in the licensing regimes they operate under, bank and credit union loan originators have been tabulated separately from independent mortgage lenders. But one thing all the LOs on this list share: In a market where refinances have dropped off a cliff and tight underwriting makes every purchase an ordeal, they stand out from the crowd.
The first institution with something to crow about on our list is U.S.A. Alliance Federal Credit Union, with its loan originators Cheryl Ann Williams and Diane Loman taking the top two slots on our tally of bank and credit union originators, with 383 and 301 loan closed, respectively. Leader Bank, which has aimed straight for the purchase market for the past several months, should be pleased to see its efforts bearing fruit as well, with three Leader Bank LOs taking slots on our top 10 – Marcus Sohn, Vikas Selhi and Christopher Butts had a combined total of 632 loans originated in 2013.
Taking Top Honors
Among independent mortgage lenders, two heavyweights duked it out, dominating the top 10: Guaranteed Rate Inc. and Mortgage Master. Guaranteed Rate’s Shant Banosian, Harinder Sigh Johar and Josphen Michael Smith nabbed the second, third and seventh places in our rankings, for a combined 1,025 loans originated, while Mortgage Master managed to cram four representatives into the top 10: Thomas Augustus Digan Jr., Rosella Campion, Alison Freed and Daid Denton Gibbs, who tallied 917 combined closings. But despite some stiff competition from her Guaranteed Rate and Mortgage Master peers, the top honor for independent lenders goes to Julie Anne Long of Commonwealth Mortgage, who closed a whopping 520 loans in 2013, more than 20 percent more than her closest competitor.
Of course, some would say that it’s not the number of closings, but rather the number on the dotted line that counts, and in that contest Christopher James Wade of Boston Private Bank may have them all beat: With a mere 133 loans originated, he did over $115 million in volume in 2013, topping the volume list for bank and credit union loan originators. Stephen Dicenso of Bank of New York Mellon nipped at his heels, with $111 million in volume. For mortgage lenders, Shant Banosian and Harinder Singh Johar rose like the proverbial cream, closing $141.6 million and $135.2 million respectively.
But though others might have bigger volume numbers, perhaps no single LO was more dominant in the last year than James Pollard. Of 424 loans made by independent mortgage lenders in Berkshire County last year, he closed 187 of them – over one-third of the total, which ought to put a feather in the cap of his employer, Academy Mortgage Corp.
Top Bank/Credit Union Originators By Number Of Loans Statewide
# Loans: 383 Name: Cheryl Ann Williams Value: $31,929,000 Lender: USA Alliance Federal Credit Union
# Loans: 301 Name: Diane Loman Value: $26,813,547 Lender: USA Alliance Federal Credit Union
# Loans: 275 Name: Sarah Mayer Value: $34,619,839 Lender: Workers’ Credit Union
# Loans: 253 Name: Pamela MacDougall Value: $53,715,558 Lender: Milford Fed Savings and Loan Assoc.
# Loans: 237 Name: Marcus Sohn Value: $97,577,655 Lender: Leader Bank NA
# Loans: 218 Name: Mark P. Higgins Value: $59,449,068 Lender: The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod
# Loans: 209 Name: Vikas Selhi Value: $66,090,975 Lender: Leader Bank NA
# Loans: 196 Name: Mildred Mary Parzychowski Value: $35,311,665 Lender: United Bank
# Loans: 195 Name: Matthew E. Chabot Value: $85,505,102 Lender: Washington Trust Co
# Loans: 186 Name: Christopher Butts Value: $58,505,581 Lender: Leader Bank NA
Top Mortgage Company Originators By Number Of Loans Statewide
# Loans: 520 Name: Julie A. Long Value: $127,538,750 Lender: Commonwealth Mortgage
# Loans: 431 Name: Shant Banosian Value: $141,658,420 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 369 Name: Harinder Singh Johar Value: $135,223,400 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 338 Name: James Pollard Value: $55,309,681 Lender: Academy Mortgage Corp.
# Loans: 244 Name: Tom Digan Value: $95,848,720 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 230 Name: Rosella Campion Value: $74,888,571 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 225 Name: Joseph Smith Value: $83,836,159 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 222 Name: Alison Freed Value: $84,946,891 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 221 Name: Dave Gibbs Value: $68,742,052 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 209 Name: Keith Hapenney Value: $78,933,574 Lender: Poli Mortgage Group
Top Bank/Credit Union Originators By Value Statewide
# Loans: 133 Name: Chris J. Wade Value: $115,791,209 Lender: Boston Private Bank
# Loans: 121 Name: Stephen Dicenso Value: $111,088,566 Lender: Bank of New York Mellon
# Loans: 237 Name: Marcus Sohn Value: $97,577,655 Lender: Leader Bank NA
# Loans: 90 Name: SueAnn Sheehan Value: $86,821,096 Lender: First Republic Bank
# Loans: 195 Name: Matthew E. Chabot Value: $85,505,102 Lender: Washington Trust Co.
# Loans: 82 Name: Felix Amsler Value: $66,121,705 Lender: Boston Private Bank
# Loans: 209 Name: Vikas Selhi Value: $66,090,975 Lender: Leader Bank NA
# Loans: 115 Name: Lynn Harvey Value: $62,467,549 Lender: Cambridge Savings Bank
# Loans: 218 Name: Mark P. Higgins Value: $59,449,068 Lender: The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod
# Loans: 186 Name: Christopher Butts Value: $58,505,581 Lender: Leader Bank NA
Top Mortgage Company Originators By Value Statewide
# Loans: 431 Name: Shant Banosian Value: $141,658,420 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 369 Name: Harinder Singh Johar Value: $135,223,400 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 520 Name: Julie A. Long Value: $127,538,750 Lender: Commonwealth Mortgage
# Loans: 244 Name: Tom Digan Value: $95,848,720 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 118 Name: James Stephen Screnci Value: $94,001,262 Lender: Morgan Stanley
# Loans: 222 Name: Alison Freed $Value: 84,946,891 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 225 Name: Joseph Smith Value: $83,836,159 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
# Loans: 209 Name: Keith Hapenney Value: $78,933,574 Lender: Poli Mortgage Group
# Loans: 230 Name: Rosella Campion Value: $74,888,571 Lender: Mortgage Master Inc.
# Loans: 207 Name: Allyson Kreycik Value: $74,163,229 Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc.
