Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
Benchmark Mortgage plans to permanently eliminate 82 positions beginning Nov. 24, including underwriters, wholesale account executives and senior leaders, as its Eleven Mortgage wholesale and correspondent shutdown moves into a workforce restructuring.
Benchmark Mortgage plans to permanently eliminate 82 positions as the lender winds down its Eleven Mortgage wholesale operation, adding a concrete workforce impact to the channel shutdown WRE News reported earlier this week.
Ark-La-Tex Financial Services LLC, which does business as Benchmark Mortgage, disclosed the layoffs in a Sept. 25 notice filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, according to the Dallas Business Journal. The reductions are expected to begin Nov. 24 and affect employees in the company’s wholesale division and home-office departments.
The filing provides new detail on the consequences of Benchmark’s decision to exit third-party origination. WRE News reported Sept. 28 that Benchmark was shutting Eleven Mortgage’s wholesale and correspondent channels and redirecting capital, leadership and technology resources toward retail production.
Underwriters and account executives among largest groups affected
The planned cuts include 16 underwriters, nine wholesale account executives and eight wholesale account managers, according to the report. Leadership positions affected include the chief information officer, wholesale division president and wholesale division vice president.
Many of the affected employees work remotely but report to Benchmark’s Plano, Texas, headquarters. The layoffs are expected to be permanent, and the notice says affected workers will not have bumping rights that would allow them to displace more junior employees.
Wholesale exit becomes a workforce restructuring
Benchmark previously described the decision to close Eleven Mortgage as deliberate and strategic, saying it would focus its resources on the company’s retail mortgage business. The lender’s earlier announcement addressed the operating strategy and deadlines for loans already in the wholesale and correspondent pipeline but did not provide the full scope of resulting job cuts.
The Texas filing now puts a number on that restructuring.
The cuts also illustrate the continuing pressure on mortgage lenders operating in a market where elevated rates have constrained refinance activity and challenged purchase affordability. Freddie Mac’s latest weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.28%, its highest level in nearly three years.
Benchmark remains active in retail mortgage lending. The shutdown applies to the wholesale and correspondent business operated through Eleven Mortgage rather than the entire company.
