Solera National Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solera National Bancorp Inc., has announced the launch of Solera National Bank’s Residential Mortgage Division and has hired Kathleen Stout as executive vice president of Solera National Bank, and president of the Residential Mortgage Division. Solera will add five loan production offices in Colorado including Boulder, two locations in Colorado Springs, the Denver Tech Center and Durango. With the expansion, Solera is adding more than 40 mortgage professionals, including loan officers with more than 200 years of combined residential lending experience. The transition is expected to take approximately 45 days to complete.
“We see significant opportunities in residential mortgage lending in Colorado, and we are delighted to welcome Kathy and her team to Solera,” said Douglas Crichfield, president and CEO. “Kathy’s high energy, leadership abilities and proven expertise in residential mortgage lending will be of great value to our institution. Our new locations will add greater convenience to our current customers as well as create increased small business lending opportunities throughout the Front Range.”
The Residential Mortgage Division is expected to significantly enhance the Bank’s profitability through the sale of loans into the secondary market as well as through building a high quality residential mortgage loan portfolio that will remain on the Bank’s balance sheet.
“My team and I chose Solera to partner with for a number of reasons, including its strong service culture, the seasoned management team, their impressive compliance platform, its rock solid balance sheet and ample liquidity to fund our operation,” said Stout. “We are excited to be able to join a young, healthy bank and be an important contributor to their growth plans over the coming years.”
Stout brings 18-plus years of experience in the residential mortgage business to Solera. Most recently, she led Residential Mortgage of Colorado LLC, a division of Universal Lending Corporation (ULC). Prior to joining ULC in 2011, Stout was recruited by Colorado Capital Bank to establish their residential mortgage loan division in 2006. As president of the Residential Mortgage Division, she successfully implemented all systems and procedures for originating, processing, approving, closing and shipping of residential mortgage loans to secondary market investors. Prior to moving to Colorado Capital Bank, Stout held high-profile positions at First Community Bank and Vectra Bank. At Vectra, she was responsible for a team of mortgage professionals that produced in excess of $1 billion in loan originations in 2003.
