Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, Stearns Lending, Inc., and its affiliated entities, have provided 23 years of exceptional mortgage lending services throughout the United States where licenses are held. Stearns' business channels include wholesale, retail and correspondent lending; financial institutions mortgage outsourcing services and credit union mortgage outsourcing services.
Stearns is licensed and approved to conduct business in 49 states with HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development). Additionally, Stearns is an approved Single Family Issuer for Ginnie Mae (Government National Mortgage Association); an approved Seller/Servicer for FNMA (Federal National Mortgage Association), also known as Fannie Mae; and, an approved Seller/Servicer for FHLMC (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), also known as Freddie Mac. Stearns is also approved for VA (United States Department of Veterans Affairs), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), and is an approved lending institution with FHA (Federal Housing Administration).
Stearns is recognized as a Top 20 (2012-Q2) Residential Lender Ranked by Total Volume; a Top 20 (2012-Q2) Residential Lender Ranked by Total Number of Loans; the 4th largest Residential Lender Ranked by Wholesale Volume (2012 Q2); a Top 20 (2012-Q2) Residential Lender Ranked by FHA/VA Volume; and has become the 5th largest Privately Held Lender nationwide.* Stearns, as a company, funded $25 Billion over the past three years (representing 100,000+ loans funded "In-house"). Additionally, Stearns has been recognized by Mortgage Technology Magazine's as one of its "Top 25 Tech-Savvy Lenders" for two consecutive years (2011 and 2012). Stearns also was named a 2012 Top Work Place by the Orange County Register.
The Company was founded in 1989 by Glenn Stearns and is a privately held company. Mr. Stearns received the Horatio Alger Award and was named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year. In addition, he received the Orange County Business Journal – Excellence in Entrepreneurship award.
Stearns Lending, Inc. is located at 4 Hutton Centre Drive, 10th Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92707.
For more information call (800) 350-LEND.
Stearns Lending, Inc.
Richard S. Donine, Senior Vice President – Marketing
Named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the year, Glenn not only has vision, he has the ability to execute. What makes Glenn Stearns different from other banking leaders is his entrepreneurial approach. Glenn recognizes that the old world of mortgage is just that, old. His experience in financial services over the past decade has helped Glenn to implement his vision of creating the new mortgage world. The new world demands service excellence, innovative technology, effective pricing and convenience all focused on customer satisfaction. He has brought e-based solutions to the mortgage processes and identified and implemented best service practices for borrower communication with his Stearns Lending team. Glenn sees Stearns Lending as a responsible leader in this new mortgage world, and is committed to meeting the expectations of clients and customers alike.
Highlights:
Chairman and Founder of Stearns Corporations
Board of Directors for Canyon Acres Youth and Family Services
Founder of Stearns Family Charitable Foundation
Board of Trustees, Chapman University
Board of Visitors, Towson University
Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Horatio Alger Award Recipient
Brian S. Hale Chief Executive Officer
Brian Hale is a 35 year veteran of the mortgage business and is one of the most recognized executives in the mortgage banking industry. Brian most recently served as President, National Production Executive of MetLife Home Loans, the residential mortgage division of MetLife Bank, N. A. Previously, Brian has held several senior executive roles for mortgage banking industry leaders such as Bank of America, serving as Senior Retail Originations Executive; Countrywide Home Loans, as President and Senior Managing Director of Consumer Markets Division; Wells Fargo Home Loans, and Fleet Mortgage. Brian was named as one of the Top 10 Most Interesting People in the Industry by American Banker in 2011 and is a highly sought after speaker inside and outside of the industry, having delivered industry-based lectures at educational institutions such as The Fuqua School of Business – MBA Leadership Program at Duke University. Brian received his Bachelor of Arts degree for Sociology / Business from State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
Katherine Le President
Katherine Le's 28 years experience in finance and operations has made her a core element to the success of Stearns Lending. She brings an exceptionally broad experiential base in her leadership and expertise, which resulted in an unprecedented growth in its operations and performance. Under her leadership, Stearns grew from an employee base of 30 employees to over 250 employees in under 10 years. Stearns now employs nearly 1,500 employees with licensing in 49 states plus Washington, D.C. Her vision and clarity of purpose make the delivery systems at Stearns Lending one of the best in the industry. Katherine's solid judgment and ability to attract and manage talent has given Stearns Lending the potential to produce positive results for employees, customers and investors. Katherine brings an organizational management style that allows flexibility in combination with timely delivery systems that are required in today's competitive mortgage environment. Katherine joined Stearns in 1995 and has been instrumental in its phenomenal growth. Katherine earned a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Business Management from California State University, Fullerton. Katherine was honored in May 2011 as outstanding businesswoman/most prominent female executive in Orange County Business Journal.
Gary B. Fabian Chief Financial Officer
Gary Fabian has over 30 years of experience in Financial Services and Public Accounting, with over 18 years in the Mortgage Banking industry. Gary is a CPA and most recently served as Vice President of Production Finance at MetLife Home Loans, the residential mortgage division of MetLife Bank, N.A. Gary specializes in the development and use of financial management systems and models that improve communication of business results and enhance the analysis and understanding of financial opportunities and operational issues. Previously, Gary was Managing Director at Countrywide Home Loans and subsequently Senior Vice President at Bank of America Home Loans, with responsibility for overall financial management and reporting for the combined Bank of America and Countrywide Distributed Retail organizations, which funded over $100 billion annually. Gary also had Senior Financial Management responsibilities at North American Mortgage Company and served as CFO of Redwood Credit Union. Gary joined Stearns in 2012. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Uday Devalla CIO, Chief information officer
Uday Devalla brings 17 years of mortgage banking technology industry expertise, having held technology executive management positions with some of the largest mortgage banking companies in the nation. Prior to joining Stearns, Uday was Senior Vice President – Technology Executive, for Bank of America Home Loans and Executive Vice President – Technology Executive, for Countrywide Home Loans.
Uday has a proven ability and track record for delivering cost-effective, high-performing and highly-scalable technology solutions in support of business growth and changing business needs. At Bank of America Home Loans, he was responsible for the mortgage origination systems platform which encompassed sales, loan origination, fulfillment, pricing, underwriting, and other systems. Additionally, he was responsible for the design, development and implementation of technology initiatives in support of strategic business goals.
Uday oversees all aspects of information technology across all technology systems supporting Stearns business channels, in addition to enterprise applications and systems for all corporate processes.
Uday Devalla received his PGD – Information Systems Management, from National Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, India; and B.S. Physics & Mathematics, from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Suzy Lindblom EVP, National Fulfillment
Suzy Lindblom has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to Stearns, Suzy served as Vice President, National Fulfillment for MetLife Home Loans Forward and Reverse Retail and Wholesale Divisions; in that capacity she had all processing, closing, underwriting and funding responsibilities for fulfillment locations. Immediately prior to joining MetLife, Suzy was Executive Vice President of National Wholesale Operations and Underwriting with Nationstar Mortgage. Before that, Suzy spent 8 years as a Managing Director with Countrywide Home Loans – Retail Division. In that role, she managed the Compliance Department (both Federal and State), National Operations Support (including Policies and Procedures), Project Management Team, and various other departments. Her experience prior to that included roles as Credit Policy Director and National Operations Manager for the CitiMortgage Retail Division (which comprised of 5 large fulfillment sites across the country), and a variety of operational management roles encompassing underwriting, credit risk policy, broker approval, consumer direct operations with Bank of America, GMAC Mortgage, Ticor Mortgage Insurance and Ameristar Financial. Suzy joined Stearns Lending in 2012.
Laurie Mandir's thirty years of mortgage experience in Risk Management and Secondary Marketing have given her the opportunity to grow several small lending companies to billion dollar loan volume-size enterprises. Laurie has a proven track record in Secondary Marketing, Risk Management and Branch Operations. In her tenure as a lending executive, she has developed extensive expertise in serving wholesale mortgage brokers and retail branches, managing mortgage pipelines and developing new loan products. At Stearns, Laurie oversees the monitoring of loan inventory and production levels, directs transactions to control interest rate risk and coverage. In addition, Laurie leads the Steams team that sets daily rates, manages locks, and ensures competitive pricing, programs and customer satisfaction.
Sean Browning Executive Vice President – Production
Sean Browning brings 25+ years' experience in the Mortgage Banking Industry. He is responsible for all sales and production encompassing Retail, Wholesale, Correspondent, and Credit Union Divisions of Stearns Lending, Inc.
Prior to joining Stearns, Sean was CEO of the largest privately held Reverse Mortgage origination company nationwide. Previous positions include Senior Vice President and National Production Manager for SCME Mortgage Bankers for 6 years and Regional Vice President for the Western United States for GMAC Home Services Mortgage Division for 14 years. During his tenure with GMAC, Sean held numerous origination and leadership roles where he was recognized as GMAC's Top Loan Originator nationwide and #1 Territory Manager (of GMAC's 26 regions).
Sean is a graduate of the Mortgage Bankers Association School of Mortgage Banking and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Southern California. Sean was also a standout student-athlete playing for USC's NCAA Men's Water Polo Team.
James Hecht Executive Vice President – Strategic Development
James Hecht brings 20+ years of mortgage banking sales, operations and strategic partnership leadership expertise to Stearns. Prior to joining Stearns, James most recently served as Executive Vice President, National Retail and Builder Production, for Nationstar Mortgage. Previously, he held executive roles with MetLife Home Loans, Bank of America and Countrywide Home Loans, serving as National Head of Consumer Direct Production, Divisional Retail Sales Executive, National Retail Fulfillment Executive and National Head of Home Builder Production.
James began his career as an intern at MGIC and later a commissioned originator. He has a proven track record of building high performing teams and growing production through traditional and emerging channels. He is widely considered one of the top Strategic Alliance Executives in the industry as he developed and operated multiple builder and Realtor alliances including the largest builder joint venture in the industry which was owned by Bank of America and KB Home.
As a member of the Stearns Executive Management Team, James is responsible for leading and growing strategic production channels such as Consumer Direct, Builder, Credit Union Partners, and our Marketing and Recruitment teams. He is based in Dallas, TX and will provide oversight to Stearns' growing operations in the DFW market.
James received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree for Marketing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, School of Business Administration.
Bank of America Technology Executive Leaves to Join Stearns Lending Mortgage technology expert Vishnu Karra to serve as Senior Vice President – Production Applications at Stearns Lending.
SANTA ANA, Calif., June 5, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of Vishnu Karra as Senior Vice President – Production Applications. Read more
Benchmark Bank Operational Risk Specialist Makes Move to Stearns Lending Hershel Malett to serve as Vice President, Internal Audit of Mortgage Operations for Stearns Lending.
SANTA ANA, Calif., May 23, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of Hershel Malett as Vice President – Internal Audit, Mortgage Operations. In this role, he will lead a team focused on development and maintenance of robust audit programs and performance of operational audits. Read more
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. Executive Makes Move to Stearns Lending to Serve as Senior Vice President – Controller John Krantz, CPA, brings more than 30 years of accounting, corporate finance and financial reporting experience to one of the nation's fastest growing mortgage lending institutions.
SANTA ANA, Calif., May 21, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of John Krantz as the Company's Senior Vice President – Controller, where he will be responsible for management and financial reporting for the combined retail, wholesale and correspondent production channels. Read more
Bank of America Executive Leaves to Join Growing Team of Industry Experts at Stearns Lending Louie Colatriano to serve as Senior Vice President – Margin Management, responsible for maximizing mortgage-production margins to ensure profitability and success of key strategic alliance relationships.
SANTA ANA, Calif., May 13, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of mortgage industry expert in finance, planning and strategic alliances, Louie Colatriano as Senior Vice President – Margin Management. Read more
Stearns Lending Outperforms Competition and Increases Momentum in Expanding Leadership Team in First Four Months of 2013 Historic milestones achieved in April 2013 as funding numbers reached $1.35 billion
SANTA ANA, Calif., May 7, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today that loan production for April 2013 exceeded $1.35 billion – a Company record. Read more
Stearns Lending Reports Market Share Growth Across All Business Origination Channels For 2012 Stearns continues to seize opportunities as competitors continue to lose market share.
SANTA ANA, Calif., APRIL 29, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced that the Company has been listed as a 2012 Top 20 Residential Lender Ranked by Volume in 2012 by Mortgagestats.com... Read more
Nationstar Mortgage Executive Leaves to Join Stearns Lending as Vice President – Strategic Development Aaron W. Samples to be responsible for development and leadership of Stearns' MSR Acquisitions Platform, as well as strategic production channel growth.
SANTA ANA, Calif., April 23, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, today announced the appointment of Aaron Samples as the Company's Vice President – Strategic Development, where he... Read more
MetLife Risk Executive Karen Crawford Joins Stearns Lending as Chief Legal Officer Seasoned mortgage banking legal executive, who had most recently served at MetLife Bank, N.A., brings more than 25 years of industry legal experience to the Stearns Executive Management Team.
SANTA ANA, Calif., March 20, 2013 (Businesswire) – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent
business channels, today announced the appointment of Karen Crawford as the Company's Chief Legal Officer... Read more
The Truth in Lending: Communication TheNiche Report Magazine, March 8, 2013
Although there is some debate as to the origin of the word "mortgage," the general consensus is that mortgage is a French law term meaning "death contract," meaning that the pledge ends (dies) when either... Read more
Stearns Lending, Inc. Signs Two Leases in Orange County 62,517 SF LEASED IN COSTA MESA AND SANTA ANA, February 19, 2013
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is pleased to announce that Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing correspondent, wholesale and retail business channels, has signed two leases in Orange County, Calif., for a total of 62,517 square feet... Read more
Stearns Lending Soars at Record Pace for Loan Originations in 2012 Stearns overall growth in 2012 exceeds 2011 by 107 percent
Santa Ana, California, January 29, 2013 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced... Read more
Hard Times Yield Opportunities for Stearns Lending Glenn Stearns seems to have a knack for finding opportunity within adversity.
Santa Ana, California, January 21, 2013 – Now the founder of a highly successful lending company, Stearns grew up in a family that battled alcoholism, lacked formal education and lived in an impoverished area on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Stearns struggled with dyslexia... Read more
The Truth in Lending: A Time of Reflection TheNicheReport Magazine, January 2, 2013
January is a time of reflection. We look back at the prior year to determine what worked and what we could have done better. It is also a time to plan for the New Year to see if we are still on track for success. Moving into 2013, a cautious optimism exists amongst... Read more
Nationstar Mortgage Senior Executive Leaves to Join Stearns Lending James Hecht to lead and grow Stearns strategic production channels
Santa Ana, California, January 2, 2013 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of James Hecht to the... Read more
Bank of America Senior Technology Exec Leaves to Join Stearns Lending Stearns appoints Uday Devalla as Chief Information Officer
Santa Ana, California, December 19, 2012 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading nationwide mortgage lending institution encompassing Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent business channels, announced today the appointment of Uday Devalla to the role of Chief Information Officer. Mr. Devalla was a former Senior Technology Exec at Bank of America... Read more
Katherine Le - From Vietnam Refugee To Company President Professional Woman's Magazine, December 17, 2012
Katherine Le is President of the Orange County, CA based Stearns Lending, the second largest independent mortgage lender in the state. Working alongside founder Glenn Stearns, Le has led the company to unprecedented growth in... Read more
The Truth in Lending: Embracing Change in the New Regulatory Environment TheNiche Report Magazine, December 2, 2012
My name is Glenn Stearns and I'm the Founder and Chairman of Stearns Lending, Inc. I'm also a self-proclaimed graduate of the school of hard knocks. Adversity and change has been a part of my life since I can remember. I was diagnosed with dyslexia at a very young age and managed to... Read more
Stearns posts $1.3 Billion funded production for October 2012; reports all-time records in overall monthly, quarterly and yearly production. 2012 YTD production exceeds entire 2011 production by 67%
Santa Ana, California, November 26, 2012 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Wholesale, Retail and Correspondent business channels, announced today that they have surpassed the $1.3 Billion mark for monthly funded production for the month of October, 2012... Read more
Stearns Lending Names Brian Hale as Chief Executive Officer New CEO to assume position effective May 21, 2012
Santa Ana, California, May 7, 2012 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Correspondent, Wholesale and Retail business channels, announced today the appointment of Brian Hale as Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors, effective May 21, 2012. Mr. Hale is a 35 year veteran... Read more
Stearns Lending Names Gary Fabian as Chief Financial Officer New CFO joins executive team led by Brian Hale, CEO
Santa Ana, California, May 22, 2012 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Correspondent, Wholesale and Retail business channels, announced today that Gary B. Fabian has joined Stearns Lending, Inc. as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Fabian brings 26 years of executive level financial experience specific to the mortgage banking and financial services industries. Mr. Fabian most recently...Read more
Stearns Lending Names Brian Hale as Chief Executive Officer New CEO to assume position effective May 21, 2012
Santa Ana, California, May 7, 2012 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Correspondent, Wholesale and Retail business channels, announced today the appointment of Brian Hale as Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors, effective May 21, 2012. Mr. Hale is a 35 year veteran... Read more
Stearns Lending Hires Western and Midwest Correspondent Regional Managers Nick Pabarcus and Seth Elbaum join correspondent team
Santa Ana, California, December 1, 2011 – Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Correspondent, Wholesale and Retail business channels, announced that Nick Pabarcus and Seth Elbaum have joined the organization as Stearns Correspondent Regional Sales Managers. Nick Pabarcus, Correspondent Regional... Read more
Stearns Lending Hires New SVP - Production for Correspondent Business Channel Greg Davis joins Stearns to lead national sales team
Santa Ana, California, July 19, 2011 – Stearns Lending, Inc. a leading privately held nationwide lending institution encompassing Correspondent, Wholesale and Retail business channels, announced that Greg Davis has joined
the organization as Senior Vice President – Correspondent Lending Production. Greg Davis has over 20 years of Senior Level.... Read more
