Fortes Financial Secures National City Mortgage Wholesale Division

Dallas-based Fortes Financial, Inc. has completed the assumption of five regional wholesale offices formerly belonging to National City Mortgage Corporation. The offices are located in San Diego, Dallas, Chicago, Fredrick, Md., and Atlanta. Dallas based Mortgage Search & Acquisition (MSA) played an integral role in the transaction.

Fortes Financial, Inc. was founded in August of 2007 by Peter J. Levasseur, President and CEO, and Janice M. Ibey, Executive Vice President and COO, with the backing of a private equity firm. Shortly after its inception, Fortes began executing its strategy to capitalize on opportunities arising from a market in disarray. In the first quarter of 2008, they acquired the assets of a retail mortgage banking platform, originating both forward and reverse mortgages and subsequently assuming control of National City Mortgage’s wholesale origination operation. Fortes currently has over 400 employees.

National City’s wholesale division closed $17 billion in 2007 before announcing plans to exit wholesale lending at the end of the same year. MSA’s President, Tami Coffey, commented, “Fortes engaged us to identify potential retail or wholesale groups that fit within their corporate profile; we felt that the National City team was a quality, productive entity that would work well under the Fortes umbrella.” With offices in Dallas and Reno, MSA specializes within the mortgage banking and financial services industry, offering executive recruiting and Acquisition services to its national client base.

“This is a significant milestone for Fortes” commented Levasseur, “We have grown the company through recent investments into the retail and reverse mortgage sectors and feel that the addition of a high quality wholesale division such as the National City team represents, will help us ascertain not only diversification but also the ability to acquire a substantial market share offering endless upward opportunity going forward.”

Levasseur directed the start up and served as President/CEO of ITT Mortgage Corp, achieving record growth in its first year of operation. As EVP of ITT Diversified Financial Corporation, a $20 billion finance company, Levasseur directed strategic planning for four subsidiaries involved in equipment finance, commercial real estate lending and small business finance, as well as directing the acquisition of a $14 billion commercial and residential mortgage servicing company where he subsequently served as President and CEO.

Janice Ibey, Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Fortes, began her career in the S&L industry, holding posts in appraisal, wholesale originations, credit and asset management prior to being named SVP of Secondary Marketing. Ibey later joined AMRESCO, Inc. as a marketing and investment strategist before being named Senior Vice President / Director with AMRESCO Residential Mortgage Corp. Prior to joining Fortes, Ibey served as Director of Capital Markets with Finance America LLC, a Lehman Brothers company, until its merger with BNC Mortgage.