Finance company marks first anniversary.

Although completing only its first year in business, Hampstead Financial Corp. is already beginning to be recognized as a leading force in the mortgage and finance industries.

During its first 12 months in business, the Fort Lee, NJ-based national mortgage banker has compiled an outstanding record of loan applications and closings, according to Michael Landau, its President and CEO. And with expansion of new offices, divisions and product lines in progress, expectations are high for continued growth during the months ahead.

"We've achieved a closing rate of more than 30 percent a month since our inception, making us a lending leader in the 14 states we are licensed to transact wholesale mortgage business," says Landau. "We've recently introduced a retail division, and this month plan to add a new division to handle small commercial loans."

"In the year ahead, we anticipate additional expansion of new offices and services, which should establish us as one of the industry's fastest-growing entities both domestically and internationally," Landau adds.

Currently, Hampstead operates eight new branches in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, plus an operational center that recently moved into expanded quarters in Hamilton, NJ. A Southeast Regional Center was established in Atlanta this summer to service offices in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, while other offices have been set up in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas and Utah.

A major recruitment drive during the past year has resulted in a solid corps of mortgage and financial professionals. Many have seen service with prominent firms in the industry; and all have brought a wide array of expertise and personal intuitiveness to their new responsibilities.

Landau himself has compiled an impressive record of achievement as a real estate developer and entrepreneur in a short, 10-year career. An attorney-at-law and licensed real estate broker, he has been involved with the development, acquisition and management of properties throughout the New York metropolitan region.

These include communities of single-family homes and townhomes in Orange County, NY, and more than one million square feet of commercial real estate in New York and New Jersey. Landau has also been principal and consultant in the negotiation, purchase and servicing of mill ions of dollars worth of commercial mortgage notes.

In his original business plan for the new company, Landau envisioned a strong focus on affiliations with synergetic entities as a principal growth objective. This has been strenuously pursued. For example, an agreement was reached with United Securities Servicing, Inc. (USSI) to provide origination services for Manhattan-based purchasers of Hampstead bulk mortgages and REO portfolios.

"The agreement with USSI not only provided us with increased opportunities in both the retail and wholesale mortgage markets, but allowed us to aggressively expand our staff that was needed to accommodate the firm's growth," Landau says.

Hampstead's mortgage line now includes conventional performing loans and "niche products" such as jumbo loans, "BCD" nonconforming mortgages, NIV and no-ratio programs, 125 percent financing, FHA and additional finance services. These are all central to a three-pronged approach to future growth.

"We expect to open a string of retail mortgage divisions throughout the tri-state area to complement the company's initial component formed in October to operate out of its Hamilton. NJ, office," Landau says. "We anticipate establishing independent satellite branches across the country that would be based more on profits than commissions. Finally, our acquisition of small mortgage agencies in several regions will provide customers with local and regional expertise."

All will be needed to meet the challenges of a new globalization of the mortgage and finance industries Landau predicts for the 21st Century.

"In this new global market, mortgage professionals will accommodate borrowers with much more efficiency and choice and a more complete array of financial products," he said. "Instead of today's traditional lenders, we will see newer, agile and more responsive mortgage companies taking their place. The industry will see a new generation of mid-to larger-sized mortgage companies striving to meet the needs of these emerging trends. Growth-minded companies will emerge to fill the void left by the consolidations of the mid-90's. We intend to be at the forefront in servicing a new generation of financial customers who will seek a one-stop shop for mortgage and financial services."