Freedom Mortgage positions for growth in 2024

After a year marked by market-driven turbulence in the mortgage industry, it’s cathartic to look back and count one’s blessings in anticipation of better times ahead. Freedom Mortgage – one of the nation’s largest full-service independent mortgage companies – is doing just that, ticking off its accomplishments amid a challenging market cycle.

To top it off, the lender points to the breadth of its philanthropic efforts undertaken last year that helped put matters in a real-world perspective beyond the corporate balance sheet.

“Freedom Mortgage continues to be aggressive in what has been a challenging origination marketplace given the recent high-rate environment,” Stan Middleman (pictured), president and CEO of Florida-based Freedom Mortgage, told Mortgage Professional America. “We have redoubled our efforts to produce an aggressive pricing model to our industry counterparts and expect to make great gains in market share this year.”

Hoping for lowered rates in the coming months

Through a series of aggressive interest rate hikes, the Fed has successfully lowered the inflation rate to around 3.35% -- down from a high of 8.54% when its first started to increase the borrowing rate in March 2022. The Fed has since telegraphed the possibility of cutting the interest rate this year, giving rise to a collective expectation of lower mortgage rates to follow.

Middleman is also optimistic of lowered rates: “We hope there will be lower rates in the future, creating more industry-wide opportunities for us to deliver more affordable housing to the people of our nation,” he said. “Our over two million customers continue to benefit from our outstanding customer service, which we will continue to improve and enhance.”

Freedom Mortgage reported “a solid 2023,” having helped nearly 80,000 borrowers secure financing for their homes. The company touted its status as a top VA and FHA lender – lending spaces that are increasingly appealing to loan originators seeking to gain market share amid an industry downturn.

Company officials also tout its success in servicing the mortgages of some two million homeowners representing more than $460 billion in loans. This is in addition to providing low down payment mortgages to first-time homebuyers and homeowners nationwide, Middleman noted.

“Last year, Freedom Mortgage helped over 50,000 borrowers successfully achieve a better financial position through loan modifications or partial claims,” he said. And the lender bolstered its position for this year by leveraging funding to fuel future expansion, Middleman added.

“Despite challenging market conditions, Freedom Mortgage was able to access the capital markets and raised approximately $1.3 billion to fund its corporate growth objectives,” he said. “This financing was nearly three times over-subscribed, showcasing strong investment sentiment in the company’s corporate strategy.”

Spreading holiday cheer

The lender also added social value, strengthening its corporate citizen efforts. All told, Freedom Mortgage donated more than $660,000 last year through its philanthropic arm, Freedom Cares, and saw another year of high employee volunteer engagement with nearly 2,300 hours spent bettering local communities. “At Freedom Mortgage, we feel a strong commitment to our customers, the industry, our communities where our employees live and work, and our nation,” Middleman said. “So, we will do all we can philanthropically and corporately to make our world a better place.”

Among its philanthropic efforts made last year through its Freedom Cares initiative:

• Holiday Toy Drive, providing an opportunity for Freedom Mortgage employees to make monetary or physical toy donations for underserved youth to brighten the spirits of families during the holiday season. Last month, employees and Middleman raised $60,000 in support of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), The Salvation Army, and Toys for Tots.
• Rucksacks to Backpacks, inspiring employees to provide backpacks and school supplies to the children of active-duty military, National Guard members, and Reservists. In celebration of the 11th year of the program in 2023, Freedom Mortgage’s employees and friends joined Middleman to raise $100,000 for several United Service Organizations (USO) Centers across the country just before the start of the new school year. Additionally, employees in a couple of locations donated 1,881 backpacks and school supplies. 
• Feeding America® “Freedom From Hunger” fundraiser empowered employees to help people facing hunger in their communities. Freedom Mortgage employees and vendors donated (and Middleman made a matching donation) that brought the total amount raised to over $50,000, which provided over 500,000 meals for people facing hunger. Additionally, through donations from entries in the Freedom Mortgage Celebrate Freedom Award contest and employees’ payroll deduction, over $30,000 was raised for Feeding America. 
• Project Gratitude encouraged Freedom Mortgage employees to submit handwritten and video messages of thanks for active-duty service members. Last year, employees recorded 1,045 messages of thanks which were shared with active-duty service members through USO Centers across the globe.

Moreover, Freedom Mortgage last year renewed its multi-year pledge to support the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Opens Doors Foundation, which provides housing grants to families with critically ill or injured children needing mortgage or rental payment assistance. The support enables Opens Doors to continue its partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as 12 other children’s hospitals across the country, officials said.

“The mortgage industry was impacted by high interest rates throughout last year, yet we grew our servicing portfolio and experienced another banner year giving back to local communities across the country,” Middleman said. “I’m proud of how our dedicated and compassionate employees worked together, not just when it came to helping our customers finance their dreams, but also for the tremendous impact they’ve made in their local communities.”

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