Florida Based BayFirst National Bank Attributes Shutdown To Uncertain Outlook And Declining Mortgage Volume
Florida based BayFirst National Bank has shut down its residential mortgage business. As a result, the bank has laid off staffers.
The BayFirst Financial Corporation announced that its board of directors started the process last week. The bank plans on closing the bank’s nationwide network of residential mortgage loan production offices. However, The bank will continue to originate mortgage loans in its local Florida offices.
Bayfirst National Bank CEO Anthony Leo said in a prepared statement last week:
The bank plans to focus on building a community banking franchise. It also has it’s eye on capitalizing on small business administration (SBA) lending.
The Small Business Administration says that BayFirst National Bank ranked eighth among the the nation’s most active SBA lenders. It approved 906 SBA loans totaling $308.8 million as of September 22.
The bank opened its eighth banking center in West Bradenton, Florida in September. It will prioritize expanding its bank offices throughout the Tampa Bay region.
The 30-year fixed-rate soared past the 6%-level, more than doubling from January and lenders have been reducing headcount to cut costs. Nearly every lender had multiple rounds of layoffs with some banks.
BayFirst expects the after-tax expense associated with discontinuing residential loans will cost about$3 and $4 million. The closure of the line of business is subject to any required regulatory notices and approvals. The company says those are expected to be completed Nov. 24th.
Founded in 1999, the bank originated $1.6 billion in volume over the last 12 months. Modex reports the bank had a monthly average of $123 million. The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) indicates the bank has 232 registered mortgage loan officers.
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