After reaching the pinnacle of reverse mortgage lending, MetLife Bank, N.A., is now up for sale. The decision to unload the company was made as a result of the parent company’s desire not to be subjected to bank regulation.
In June — following separate decisions by Bank of America, N.A., and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. to exit reverse mortgage lending — MetLife Bank became the biggest originator of home-equity conversion mortgages. The company closed 1,242 HECMs last month, according to Reverse Market Insight.
On Thursday, the parent of MetLife Bank said that it decided to put the bank for sale.
“MetLife Bank represented just 2 percent of MetLife Inc.’s first quarter 2011 operating earnings, and we do not believe it is appropriate for the overwhelming majority of our business to be governed by regulations written for banking institutions,” Steven A. Kandarian, president and chief executive officer of MetLife Inc., said in a statement. “In a highly competitive global insurance marketplace, it is imperative that MetLife be able to operate on a level playing field with other insurance companies.”
But the New York-based firm said that it intends to continue in the residential mortgage business through MetLife Home Loans — which currently operates as a subsidiary of MetLife Bank.
The bank started business in 2001 as an Internet-based institution. It got into the reverse mortgage business with its June 2008 acquisition of EverBank LLC.
MetLife Home Loans was created with the September 2008 acquisition of mortgage production offices from First Horizon National Corp.
MetLife Bank had total assets of $15.6 billion as of March 31, 2011. Deposits stood at $9.3 billion.
Related:
MetLife to Maintain Reverse Business
MetLife Inc. plans to keep its reverse mortgage business after a potential sale of the bank.
