Editor’s note: Following publication of this story, HousingWire learned that Guild Mortgage had struck a deal to acquire Inlanta Mortgage. For more details, click here.
Wisconsin lender Inlanta Mortgage announced plans to shut down next year after laying off 62 employees. Inlanta was planning to expand in the summer, but the company failed to stay afloat amid worsening market conditions.
“Due to the dramatic and unanticipated drop in mortgage product demand, business circumstances have dictated that Inlanta Mortgage’s assets be transitioned to a third-party purchaser,” Paul Buege, president of Inlanta Mortgage, said in a notice of business closing filed with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development on November 29.
Layoffs at the site in Pewaukee, Wisconsin are “expected to commence on November 29, 2022, and to proceed until completion of wind-down in early 2023,” Buege said.
The letter showed that the first round of layoffs will start on December 2 and will impact marketing staff, loan processors, underwriters and a loan officer. Layoffs will continue until the end of March in 10 additional rounds, according to the letter.
Inlanta didn’t respond to requests for comment on the purchaser or when it will fund loans until. Formed in 1993, Inlanta has 77 sponsored MLOs and 32 branches across the country, according to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.
Despite the high-interest rate environment, Inlanta was among the lenders that were hiring in July. The lender was looking to scoop up more LOs and branch managers in the Midwest. In an interview with HousingWire, Buege emphasized the importance of hiring experienced LOs to tap into the market of buyers who saved up during the pandemic.
“Interest rates have knocked out homebuyers but we still have more qualified buyers who saved up a lot of money and have been trying to get into the market,” Buege said. “As we see a cooling in the housing market, it’s almost bringing a balance back. We look at the market as the glass is half full.”
However, while Inlanta originated $1.74 billion in loan volume in 2021, the lender’s loan origination dropped to $708.68 million year to date, according to data from mortgage tech platform Modex. In November, Inlanta posted the lowest monthly origination volume this year at $649,155.
At $461.48 million, purchase mortgages accounted for 65% of its total volume year-to-date, and at $238.78, refis accounted for 33.7% of its total volume.