NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meridian Capital Group, one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance, investment sales and retail leasing advisors, announced today that Freddie Mac lenders may resume requesting quotes for Meridian-brokered loans beginning on January 1, 2025.
“We are excited about our reinstated ability to offer our clients agency lending options and we believe our efforts to create a best-in-class approach to compliance will set the tone for the commercial mortgage brokerage industry,” said Meridian Chief Executive Officer Brian Brooks. “For more than 30 years, Meridian has built its business on integrity and transparency, and we’re committed to continuing to build on our foundation of unparalleled experience and market intelligence in the service of our clients.”
Meridian has taken several important steps to enhance the firm’s compliance framework in its brokerage and underwriting activities and procedures, including developing an entirely new credit review process with a chief underwriting officer function and an executive review committee for large loans, complex transactions, and loans originated for sale to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Meridian has taken additional steps to strengthen its culture of compliance including creating several new management roles centered on compliance and risk management.
Some of the specific actions include:
- The appointment of two new independent board members: Andrew Bon Salle, Fannie Mae’s former EVP and head of single-family business and HomePoint’s former chairman; and Pat Jackson, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of real estate investment manager Sabal Investment Holdings.
- The appointment of the firm’s first Chief Risk Officer, Melissa Martinez, former chief risk officer of CoreLogic and OneWest Bank.
- The creation of new underwriting processes through which all brokered transactions will undergo a pre-screening process to ensure compliance and approval based on size of loan and risks.
- The establishment of a Management Credit Approval Committee to review large loans and all Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans prior to funding.
- The development of a quarterly Loan Review process to ensure compliance after transactions have been completed and sets corrective actions should errors or violations be identified, ranging from retraining to suspension to termination.
Meridian has arranged more than $550 billion in commercial real estate financing for more than 11,000 customers since its founding. The company has repeatedly been the number one commercial mortgage broker by transaction count and a top five broker by dollar volume.
About Meridian Capital Group
Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group is one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance, investment sales and retail leasing advisors. In 2023, Meridian closed over $27.4 billion in financing in 43 states across 269 unique lenders. Meridian represents many of the world’s leading real estate investors and developers and the company’s expansive platform has specialized practices for a broad array of property types including office, retail, multifamily, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, and healthcare and senior housing properties. Meridian is headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, and California. Learn more at www.meridiancapital.com.
