On Monday, reports began to circulate across news outlets that last week, Movement Mortgage quietly laid off 75 of its employees from various offices across the U.S.
The layoffs were split between operations campuses in Fort Mill, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; Tempe, Arizona and Richmond, Virginia, and were due to an operations improvement that resulted in the elimination of several positions, the company told HousingWire.
However, Movement Mortgage explained that it is not reducing its staff, and its overall employment increased by 201 net jobs over the past 12 months. This year, the company forecasts it will add more than 900 jobs overall, saying it is still actively growing and hiring.
The company explained the layoff of 75 employees, or less than 2% of its 4,200-member staff nationwide, was a result of an improvement to our process. Formerly, applicants who had not selected the home they wish to buy followed the same process as those who did have a property attached to their application. The process involved a six-hour goal for upfront underwriting, a seven-day goal to process the loan, final underwriting and closing.
Effective Monday, these applicants still in the shopping phase continue to receive the upfront underwriting, but Movement Mortgage will wait to process the loan until they select their property. This eliminates additional, and often unnecessary, steps by the customer and operations staff.
“Movement is constructing an additional $18 million, 90,000 sq.ft. building at its HQ in S.C., which will open in early 2019,” the company explained, confirming its current road to expansion. “The company has already met its 2015 goal to bring 672 jobs to South Carolina and expects to add 700 additional jobs at the site by 2022.”
During 2016, data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act shows the company ranked 18th in its total number of refinance and purchase mortgages with 54,300, and ranked No. 22 in mortgage loan volume with $11.88 billion in purchase and refi mortgages.
