PHH Mortgage, a nonbank mortgage servicer, originator and subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corp., named Andy Peach as the company’s senior vice president, correspondent lending on Monday.
Peach will be responsible for leading PHH’s growing correspondent lending business and will report directly to George Henley, Ocwen’s chief growth officer.
Prior to his recent move, Peach served as senior vice president, correspondent sales at Mr. Cooper. Over his 30-year career in the industry, Peach has held a series of leadership positions, including president and CEO at Waterstone Mortgage, and managing director and chief production officer at Pacific Union Financial, where he was responsible for all sales and operations for the company’s correspondent, wholesale, retail and consumer-direct channels.
Prior to those positions, Peach held senior spots at JP Morgan Chase, Aurora Loan Services and Bank of America.
“Andy’s extensive track record of successfully driving profitable production while emphasizing exemplary customer service makes him a great addition to our originations team,” said Henley. “He has a wealth of experience and his hiring helps to solidify our commitment to growing our Correspondent Lending business, which is an important component of our overall growth strategy.”
PHH relaunched its correspondent lending business in 2019 after backing out in 2016, citing subpar profitability and it’s intentions to reduce its investment in mortgage-servicing rights portfolio. At the time, 2016’s first quarter low interest rates pulled down the performance of PHH due to negative adjustments to the “fair value” of its mortgage servicing rights portfolio.
However, after its $360 million acquisition by Ocwen, and subsequent channel relaunching, the company’s correspondent lending business experienced significant growth. According to PHH, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the channel generated $2.6 billion in volume, a 34% increase from the prior quarter. It also nearly tripled its seller base at the end of 2020, compared to the prior year, and continues to add new correspondent sellers.
