WMC MORTGAGE PLANS NEW MISSION.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer WMC WMC Winter Music Conference WMC Weill Medical College (Cornell University) WMC Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (Madison, WI) WMC Westchester Medical Center WMC Western Mining Corporation Mortgage Corp. is betting that borrowers conventional lenders won't touch will help put the Woodland Hills company at the top of the nation's subprime lenders. Three months after selling its prime lending operations, the privately held, 40-year-old company announced it will develop its wholesale and retail subprime lending  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. channels with an eye to becoming one of the largest subprime lenders in the country. The subprime lending market targets borrowers with weak credit histories, bankruptcies and others who otherwise would be turned away by prime lending institutions Noun 1. lending institution - a financial institution that makes loans financial institution, financial organisation, financial organization - an institution (public or private) that collects funds (from the public or other institutions) and invests them in . The thrift crisis of the 1980s and other factors over the past decade or so have prompted conventional institutions to tighten their lending policies, leaving behind many borrowers who once were considered good loan risks, said Michael Kumin, executive vice president of WMC. ``Just because someone is categorized cat·e·go·rize tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es To put into a category or categories; classify. cat as subprime these days doesn't mean they're a bad borrower,'' he said. ``We think they're a good credit risk.'' WMC is moving into a potentially lucrative market that has less risk than it would appear, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Bob O'Toole, senior staff vice president for the Washington D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Mortgage Banker A company, individual or institution that originates, sells and services mortgage loans. Notes: Don't confuse a mortgage banker with a mortgage broker. Association of America. Subprime lenders use a number of techniques to minimize their risk of losing money. For example, their interest rates are typically higher than a prime lender's to offset potential losses. ``It's higher risk, but it doesn't mean it's not profitable,'' O'Toole said. ``It's higher risk, but it's priced for the risk.'' More companies are moving into the subprime arena, but even with WMC's announcement Monday the market isn't saturated, O'Toole said. ``Also, there's a pretty healthy market for this that they can serve,'' he said. WMC's first-quarter loan originations The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. exceeded $784 million. It now operates 15 retail branches and expects to open 40 to 50 more this year. In February, WMC announced the sale of its prime lending operations to Norwest Mortgage, the nation's largest originator of home loans. The sale, comprising 49 retail branches and wholesale centers, in effect ended the company's prime lending operations, Kumin said. He called the sale a ``win-win'' because Norwest got a chunk of business that it was prepared to handle and WMC received cash to sharpen sharp·en tr. & intr.v. sharp·ened, sharp·en·ing, sharp·ens To make or become sharp or sharper. sharp its focus on a business ``that right now is a little less competitive.'' ``The conventional mortgage market has become such that you have to be big to survive,'' Kumin said. ``As a sort of small- to mid-sized market player it was hard to remain profitable.'' Though WMC no longer will solicit those ``A'' loan customers, it will continue to serve those applicants, Kumin said. |
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