SRE Mortgage Alliance Inc., a technology-focused wholesale lender specializing in residential home loans, is undergoing a "restructuring and reorganization" that will determine its future and will include some layoffs, a company spokesman said Friday.
According to the spokesman, a company executive who requested anonymity, SRE owner Takeshi Sekiguchi is in El Segundo to meet with company officials.
NMP had received a copy of a letter dated Oct. 13, 2021, that was sent to all SRE employees in El Segundo stating that all staff within the company's wholesale lending division would be laid off, effective Nov. 1. The letter stated that employees would receive their final paychecks via direct deposit, and did not offer any other severance.
The letter cited "financial shortfalls due to the low mortgage volume" as the reason for closing the division and terminating its staff.
The spokesman said the letter, signed by CEO Rika Jones, is accurate, although he said the actual number of layoffs has not yet been determined. He confirmed that the company has more than 50 employees, but said the decision on how many will be terminated will be among what Sekiguchi determines the restructuring and reorganization will include, he said.
It was not clear when a final decision on the reorganization and staffing levels will be made.
The spokesman said SRE Mortgage Alliance in El Segundo is "completely separate" from all of Sekiguchi's other businesses, and that any decisions made will be specific just to the California office. The company owns its office location at 2245 Campus Drive in El Segundo, he said.
He added that the focus of the restructuring effort is "to do what's best for the consumer, and to make sure the consumer is taken care of."
