(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Berkadia has announced that Frank Lutz, Senior Vice President, Conventional Origination, has been elected by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) to serve as chairman of its Fannie Mae DUS (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing) Lender Peer Group.
The DUS program is a unique risk-sharing model whereby lenders retain some of the underlying risk of the loans they sell to Fannie Mae, financing multifamily properties throughout the country. Last year, the DUS program provided over $42 billion of financing to the multifamily market, representing approximately 569,000 units.
The DUS program is comprised of 25 multifamily seller servicers approved as delegated partners by Fannie Mae.
“We are pleased that Frank was selected for this honor,” said Justin Wheeler, CEO of Berkadia. “His many contributions to the MBA support Berkadia’s longstanding history with the organization and reinforce our position as a leading DUS lender. We congratulate Frank on this recognition and support him in his efforts.”
Lutz joined Berkadia in 2011, and he is responsible for managing Berkadia’s relationships with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as well as aspects of production including loan structuring, volume, profitability and credit quality. Under his leadership, Berkadia has become a top lender with both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, ranking second with Freddie Mac in 2015 for the fourth consecutive year and third with Fannie Mae in terms of delivered loan volume for the same time period. Berkadia was the sole lender to rank in the top three with both organizations in 2015.
Prior to joining Berkadia, Lutz was with Fannie Mae where he was an officer of the company, having acquired extensive experience in managing lender relationships and customers, developing business and resolving troubled loans.
Lutz has a master’s degree in business administration from Villanova University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University.
About Berkadia
Founded in 2009 as a 50/50 joint venture between Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corporation, Berkadia is a third-party commercial mortgage servicer, as well as an approved lender for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD/FHA. The company was among the top Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae multifamily lenders for 2013.
Berkadia owes its origins to GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation, which was acquired in 2009 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. Christened Capmark Financial, the company had $10 billion of originations in 2008 and a servicing portfolio of more than $360 billion before running into bankruptcy in October 2009.
In a deal approved by the bankruptcy court, Capmark sold its mortgage loan and servicing to the newly formed Berkadia in a deal worth $515 million.
The deal brought Berkshire into the heart of the commercial loan serving business, and the company has one of the largest commercial real estate servicing portfolios.
© 2016 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.