Washington Trust opens first mortgage office in Massachusetts

Washington Trust, one of Rhode Island’s largest independent banks, has announced the opening of a new mortgage lending office in Sharon, Mass. This is the bank’s first residential lending office in Massachusetts; Washington Trust currently offers wealth management services through Weston Financial Group, located in Wellesley, Mass. The Bank has 13 retail branch offices in Rhode Island and three branches in Connecticut, and has plans to open another branch in Warwick, R.I. later this year. The bank’s new Massachusetts residential mortgage office, the Washington Trust Home Loan Center, is located at One Merchant Street, Suite 102, in Sharon, Mass. The Bank will staff a team of ten Washington Trust mortgage lending professionals who are both experienced and well-known in the Massachusetts market area. Washington Trust Home Loan Center specialists will originate a full-range of residential lending solutions, including fixed rate, variable rate, construction loans, jumbo mortgages, reverse mortgages, FHA & VA loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. “This is a great time for Washington Trust to expand into the Greater Boston area with a residential mortgage office,” said Stephen M. Bessette, executive vice president, retail lending. “The residential real estate market is showing signs of recovery and consumers are turning to community banks, like Washington Trust, for traditional mortgage options, trusted advice and personal service.” Washington Trust is one of Rhode Island’s top mortgage lenders and was the number one reverse mortgage lender in Rhode Island, for the period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. For more informatipon, visit www.washtrust.com.