RYLAND LENDING UNIT TO MOVE INTO VALLEY.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

The Ryland Group, one of the nation's biggest home builders and lenders, will move its mortgage unit's corporate headquarters to the San Fernando Valley so it can provide better service to customers in the Midwest, East and South, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

``The mortgage office will be in the Pacific Time Zone so we will be able to offer extended hours to our customers in the Midwest and East,'' said spokeswoman Ann Madison.

Ryland, based in Columbia, Md., is in the process of hiring 50 people for the executive staff, including a controller, and has leased the 14th floor of the Trillium office tower on Canoga Avenue in Woodland Hills.

The company expects to complete the move by Sept. 1.

Los Angeles' location and business climate were big factors in the move, said Daniel Schreiner, Ryland Mortgage's president. Ryland already has moved about 110 support jobs from Columbia to Scottsdale, Ariz.

``In Woodland Hills, there are other mortgage companies in the area, and we wanted a location that was an easy commute to Phoenix,'' Schreiner said.

Ryland builds about 10,000 new homes annually across the United States, and its mortgage unit arranges financing for many of the buyers.

Last year, the company had about $1.7 billion in sales and made $1.2 billion worth of loans, Schreiner said. The company makes about 8,400 new home loans a year.

Ryland bought Brock Homes in 1986 and has been marketing its homes in California under that name, but is starting to use the Ryland brand name, Madison said.

The company has projects throughout the state, including 271 homes in three new tracts in the Santa Clarita Valley: Canyon Crest, Hawks Point and Falcon Ridge. Prices top out at more than $300,000.

The Ryland Group headquarters will remain in Columbia.