11/21/08

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Mortgage brokers find shelter in commercial

As the residential mortgage market continues to shrink, residential lenders have been weakened, and some brokers are leaving the game.

In Manhattan, some mortgage brokers have made the move over to hotter commercial firms.

Lee Bienstock, 24, recently left recently left Trump Mortgage, a commercial and residential mortgage brokerage, for a position with the purely commercial mortgage firm Meridian Capital Group. Bienstock is now director of business development for Meridian Capital, where he will be working on recruiting and growing the firm's business relationships.

Prior to joining Meridian Capital, Bienstock handled commercial transactions as associate vice president of corporate development at Trump Mortgage, the mortgage company started by Donald Trump in early 2006. Bienstock was hired after becoming the runner-up in the fifth season of "The Apprentice" reality television show last year. "With the market uncertainty, lenders are more stringent, and it was really important to be with a powerhouse company like Meridian," Bienstock said with Trump-like brashness.

A number of residential mortgage lenders have been edging into the commercial side of the business. Americana Mortgage Group, based on Long Island, entered the commercial mortgage industry over a year ago to hedge its bets. The mortgage brokerage does a number of deals ranging from $500,000 to $5 million, with some business stemming from mixed-use developments.