Former M&A Executive at Caliber Home Loans Renée Blackwell Joins Stearns Lending

Veteran mortgage banker to serve as Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, responsible for the development and execution of the Company’s Retail channel M&A strategies

SANTA ANA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 26, 2016 / Stearns Lending, LLC, a leading provider of mortgage lending services in Wholesale, Retail, Correspondent and Strategic Alliances sectors, is pleased to announce that Renée Blackwell has been named Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, responsible for the development and execution of merger and acquisition (M&A) strategies to capitalize on opportunities and accelerate growth in the Retail channel.

“We are thrilled to welcome Renée to the leadership team at Stearns. She has a proven track record in leading the acquisitions of multiple companies and will be an invaluable addition to our team, as we pursue strategies to accelerate the already impressive growth of our Retail channel,” said James Hecht, COO of Stearns Lending.

Blackwell brings more than 15 years of mortgage industry experience and leadership to her role at Stearns. Prior to joining the Company, Blackwell served as the Senior Vice President, Strategic Purchase Growth at Caliber Home Loans, where she focused on growing the Distributed Retail channel through M&A. Prior to sourcing companies for Caliber Home Loans, she focused on mortgage servicing rights (MSR) acquisitions. She held the position of Business Development Manager at Nationstar’s PartnerPlus origination division where she facilitated strategic alliances with over thirty banks, hedge funds, and other mortgage servicers. Earlier in her career, Blackwell served as a loan officer and retail branch manager from which she gained experience in all aspects of retail loan production.

“Stearns has an exceptional leadership team committed to future growth,” said Blackwell. “I am excited to join Stearns at a time when the business is expanding key initiatives and executing on its expansion strategy. I look forward to working with the management team and contributing to the Company’s ongoing success.”

For more than 25 years, Stearns has been helping employees, borrowers and business partners to reach their goals by successfully exceeding expectations and leading the industry with innovation and efficiency. To learn more about Stearns, visit stearns.com and join.stearns.com.

About Stearns Lending, LLC

Stearns Lending, LLC is a leading provider of mortgage lending services in Wholesale, Retail, Correspondent and Strategic Alliances sectors throughout the United States. Currently ranked as #2 Wholesale Lender nationwide*, Stearns Lending continues to expand as a company overall, making the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in 2013, 2014 and 2015**, based on revenue growth of 250% over a three-year period.

Stearns Lending is an equal housing lender and is licensed to conduct business in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Additionally, Stearns Lending is an approved HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) lender; a Single Family Issuer for Ginnie Mae (Government National Mortgage Association); an approved Seller/Servicer for Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association); and an approved Seller/Servicer for Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation). Stearns Lending is also approved as a VA (United States Department of Veterans Affairs) lender, a USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) lender, and is an approved lending institution with FHA (Federal Housing Administration). Stearns Lending, LLC is located at 4 Hutton Centre Drive, 10th Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92707. Company NMLS# 1854.

For more information, visit www.stearns.com.

Media Contact

Brad Hoke
bhoke@stearns.com
Executive Vice President
972-521-1057

References

*http://www.insidemortgagefinance.com/

Top Broker Channels. Rep. no. 12M2015. Inside Mortgage Finance, Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

**http://www.inc.com/profile/stearns-lending

“The 2013 Inc. 5000.” The 2013 Inc. 5000. Inc.com, Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
“The 2014 Inc. 5000.” The 2014 Inc. 5000. Inc.com, Aug. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
“The 2015 Inc. 5000.” The 2015 Inc. 5000. Inc.com, Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

SOURCE: Stearns Lending, LLC

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