Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Homepoint has entered into a definitive agreement to sell certain assets of the company’s wholesale originations channel to The Loan Store Inc., a national wholesale lender headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.
Founded in 2019, The Loan Store is a provider of conventional, jumbo, VA, and non-QM offerings.
“Due to the tremendous effort of our associates and the support of our broker partners, we have built Homepoint from a startup to the third-largest wholesale lender,” said Willie Newman, President and CEO of Homepoint. “After careful consideration, and in light of current market conditions, we have decided to sell our wholesale originations business to The Loan Store. We believe this is the best decision for our company to continue to deliver value to Home Point shareholders.”
Homepoint will be winding down its nine-year tenure as a direct participant in the originations market.
Homepoint will hold an equity interest in The Loan Store, enabling the company and its shareholders to participate in The Loan Store’s potential future success. Moving forward, Homepoint will continue to strategically manage its mortgage servicing rights (MSR) asset and balance sheet.
Homepoint’s President of Originations Phil Shoemaker, a mortgage industry veteran of more than 25 years, will serve as CEO of The Loan Store, and Mark Lefanowicz, current CEO of The Loan Store, will move into an Executive Chairman role on the company’s board.
Shoemaker has served as Homepoint President of Originations since 2018. Prior to joining Homepoint, Phil was one of the founding members of the originations business at Caliber Home Loans, where he served in multiple roles on the executive management team from 2009 to 2018, including EVP, COO of Production, Chief Administrative Officer and SVP of Operations. From 1997-2009, Phil served in various leadership positions at Stonewater Mortgage and First Magnus Financial.
With more than 30 years of lending experience, Lefanowicz most recently transitioned from CEO and Chairman of Ethos Lending LLC. He has served on the Board of Directors for several consumer finance institutions, including Credit Karma, which was recently acquired by Intuit for $7.1B. As an angel investor, Mark is an active investor in consumer finance and fintech companies. Prior to starting The Loan Store, from 2004-2008 Mark served as CEO/President of E-LOAN. As CEO, he led the sale of E-LOAN to Banco Popular. Mark also served as CFO at Provident Funding Associates, held numerous executive positions at Bay View Capital, and was a partner at Coopers & Lybrand, which later merged with Price Waterhouse to form PWC.
“I am proud of what we accomplished at Homepoint and thankful for the experience,” added Shoemaker. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter at The Loan Store, where we will continue making a positive impact within the wholesale lending community.”
Founded in 2019, The Loan Store has constructed a platform that leverages automation to deliver a high level of speed and customer service while being able to provide consistently competitive pricing.
“At The Loan Store, we’ve built an efficient platform that provides what we believe is truly a best-in-class experience for our partners,” said Brandon Stein, President of The Loan Store. “Combining that with the visionary leadership of Phil Shoemaker and a highly regarded sales and operations team, The Loan Store is well-positioned to sustainably scale our business.”
With more than seven years of lending experience, Stein oversees all aspects of loan production, counterparty management, and partnership growth in both wholesale and correspondent channels for The Loan Store. In his current role, Brandon’s primary focus is client sourcing, onboarding, and success. Previously, he served as the Director of Wholesale Sales with Ethos Lending LLC, contributing to more than $900 million in personal loan production as a Senior AE since 2014.
