The Mortgage Shuffle

On July 1, Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. reorganized into a holding company by acquiring all the voting shares of Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Co. The formation of the holding company was approved in May, the company reported.

“The reorganization provides additional sources of capital to fund our asset growth, flexibility in repurchasing stock, and equity investment opportunities,” said Bill Long, president and CEO, in a written statement. “The holding company structure enables us to reach our current and potential investors more efficiently.”

In Columbus, Ind., Irwin Financial Corp. announced the appointment of Jocelyn Martin-Leano as president of its home equity unit.

Martin-Leano, 45, joined Irwin Home Equity in 1996 and last year took on the role of interim president. Her resume includes various management capacities in the mortgage divisions of ITT Residential Capital Corp., Bank of America and Citibank, according to the announcement.

Meanwhile, New Century Financial Corp. announced Brad A. Morrice as its new chief executive officer.

Morrice, who will continue serving as vice chairman and president of the Irvine, Calif.-based lender, succeeds Robert K. Cole, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board, the announcement said.

Doral Financial Corp., a Puerto Rican-based banker with U.S. operations., announced it agreed with Westernbank Puerto Rico to restructure all outstanding mortgage loan sale transactions between the parties.

As of May 31, the unpaid principal balance of all mortgage loans previously sold by Doral to Westernbank was approximately $954 million, Doral said.

The transaction particularly will significantly reduce Doral’s exposure to rising interest rates and recourse obligations. It will further de leverage its balance sheet and improve capital ratios, and will provide Doral with servicing fees on certain mortgage loans it was not currently entitled to receiving because of rising interest rates, according to the announcement.

Opteum Financial Services LLC has acquired the assets of privately-held Aclarian Mortgage, a Sarasota, Fla.-based retail mortgage lender, according to an announcement today. The 30-person operation brings to five the number of branches in the Sunshine State and to 37 the number nationally for Paramus, N.J.-based Opteum.

Maverick Residential Mortgage Inc., Frisco, Texas, acquired Landmark Mortgage Group, which adopted the Maverick name but retained its current staff and location in Kentucky, Business First reported.

American Bank Holdings acquired United Federal Mortgage in late June to ramp up its retail mortgage business, according to the Washington Business Journal. With $300 million in annual mortgage production, United Federal will more than double American’s business.

American reportedly said the acquisition “is another of what we hope to be a solid revenue stream to offset other types of income that are down today.”

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage intends to acquire more business through Florida-based WCI Mortgage, a subsidiary of homebuilder WCI Communities Inc., according to a press release.

Wells said the joint venture, to be called WCI Mortgage, will originate, process and fund mortgage loans in Florida from WCI clients and others, and will also service Prudential Florida WCI Realty, ranked as the 22nd largest real estate company in the nation in sales volume.

Susan Walker will reportedly serve as president of the venture.

Sunset Financial Resources is facing opposition to merging with Alesco Financial Trust.

The dissenters, led by Western Investment Hedged Partners LP — a group of investors who collectively own nearly 10% of Sunset’s outstanding shares, claim the deal is no good for Sunset shareholders, according to a press release Friday.

“We call upon Sunset to hold its 2006 annual meeting of stockholders, which we believe is long overdue, concurrently with the special meeting currently planned to vote upon the merger proposals, and to permit the election of directors at that meeting,” the group said.