WaMu To Consolidate Five Servicing Platforms Into Two.(Washington Mutual Inc.)(Brief Article)

Washington Mutual recently completed its acquisition of PNC Mortgage and is on the verge of completing its deal to buy Bank United. Those deals give the West Coast thrift over $300 billion in servicing rights and five servicing platforms.

In a move that will produce "enormous savings," the president of Washington Mutual's mortgage unit announced last month that WaMu will consolidate loan administration into two servicing sites, located in Vernon Hills, Ill., (formerly a PNC site) and at WaMu's Northridge campus in California.

That means servicing platforms in Houston, Louisville, and Seattle are slated to be closed this year. Craig Davis, president of WaMu's Home Loans and Insurance Services Group, said most of the employees at those locations will receive relocation packages and offers to join the staff at one of the two remaining servicing centers. He said there are currently "literally hundreds of job openings" in the two servicing sites that will manage WaMu's growing portfolio.

Mr. Davis said that decisions about where to keep servicing centers were based on the physical plants, location, and employment base of the sites.

He said that mortgage servicing is

"a scale-required business," and the consolidation will position WaMu for portfolio growth and savings.

"Clearly, anytime you do an acquisition of this magnitude you have challenges that come along with it, but the opportunities are just tremendous," Mr. Davis said.