PASADENA, Calif. — Wescom is out of the wholesale mortgage lending business.

An official notice the $2.8 billion credit union sent to its brokers is posted on The Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter (http://ml-implode.com/), a year-old Web site that attracts 100,000 visitors daily, and has been sourced by the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, and Bloomberg publications.

The notice, dated Dec. 12, states, “After careful consideration, Wescom has elected to exit the wholesale lending business for residential real estate loans, effective immediately.”

Wescom posted a $6.9 million annualized net loss and a $35.6 million annualized provision for loan losses as of Sept. 30, per NCUA reports. Both figures are quite different from Wescom's Sept. 30 '06 numbers, when the credit union recorded an $18.5 million net profit, and only provisioned $16.2 million for loan losses.

Credit Union Times received a tip from former Wescom employee, who said she was laid off last month, along with more than 100 others. The employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said employees were told the layoffs were a result of financial performance concerns. Wescom's entire wholesale lending department was laid off, she said, as well as employees in marketing, community relations, and member service.

Requests for an interview or a statement from Wescom were denied.

Instant Insights /

Wescom Exits Wholesale Lending Biz

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