NEXA CEO Mike Kortas launches evoLend servicing company

Mike Kortas is stepping into the mortgage servicing space with the launch of evoLend — a servicer approved for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae loans that’s initially designed to give NEXA Lending loan officers a competitive advantage in borrower relationships. 

In an interview with HousingWire, Kortas — the founder and CEO of NEXA — said the traditional mortgage servicing model often disconnects LOs from borrowers after a loan is funded, limiting their visibility into future refinance and payoff opportunities.

“Every time a loan is sold to somebody, the loan officer is getting sold out by their company, because the servicing is now being done by somebody else,” Kortas said. “Now our loan officers will be able to be involved in the servicing.”  

evoLend plans to offer mortgage servicing tools and borrower data to help LOs stay connected with clients during the life of a loan. Kortas also said future integrations could give NEXA LOs access to servicing information and payoff data, subject to regulatory and compliance requirements.

Leadership

Tammy Richards has been appointed CEO at evoLend, where she will oversee technology, operational infrastructure and the servicing platform. When asked whether Richards will retain her position as NEXA’s chief strategy officer, Kortas said that the decision is “still in transition” but that Richards will “focus on this new venture.”

“evoLend is about giving loan officers access to the information and infrastructure they have historically been separated from after closing,” Richards said in a statement. “This company is being built intentionally, with compliance, technology, and long-term loan officer value at the center.”

Todd Bitter, national director of sales at NEXA, explained that in the company’s nondelegated correspondent business format, it funds the loans while lenders handle the underwriting. Typically, lenders then buy the loans off NEXA’s warehouse line and retain the servicing.

“That’s how it’s always worked in this industry,” Bitter said. “But we basically said, ‘Here’s a servicing company, and we want our loans to be able to be serviced by this company. If you want to do business with us, we would appreciate that.’ Some of them are going to be a subservicing agreement, and some of them are going to be servicing fully.”

Competition 

Kortas is launching evoLend amid a competitive landscape for servicing, which has led to several recent transactions: Rocket Companies and Mr. Cooper Group; Bayview Asset Management and Guild Mortgage; and the attempts by United Wholesale Mortgage and CrossCountry Mortgage to acquire Two Harbors Investment Corp.

“Not every lender is going to allow us to service the loans, but some are, because they’re thinking this is their way to get more volume from NEXA,” Bitter added.

Kortas plans to make evoLend available to other brokers, LOs and companies in the future. He said evoLend is pursuing multiple business models depending on the lender or investor involved in a loan.

In cases where evoLend owns the mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), the company would also service the loan, giving it direct access to borrower information throughout the life of the mortgage.

If another lender retains the servicing rights, Kortas said evoLend could instead act as the subservicer, handling the day-to-day servicing while the lender continues to own the asset.

In situations where evoLend neither owns nor services the loan, the company plans to rely on technology integrations to receive servicing data through application programming interfaces (APIs). Kortas said that would allow LOs to monitor payoff activity and remain engaged with borrowers even when another company services the loan.

Partnerships 

While Kortas says that no companies have officially signed on, he anticipates that Pennymac will be the first company to work with evoLend. Other companies are in the works too, but “nothing has been finalized,” he added. 

“I have enough cash reserves to service many billions of dollars,” he said. “Our goal is likely $2 billion year one and then grow it from there. But we certainly will not be thinking small long term.”

The addition of a new company under Kortas’s belt does not mean a change for NEXA’s business model, he said.

evoLend is not Kortas’s only business pursuit this year. He also acquired the for-sale-by-owner platform FSBO.com through an ownership group co-led by strategic partner Brad Rice, the CEO of real estate marketplace Homepie and of Amerifund Home Loans.

Kortas said at the time of that announcement that while NEXA does not own FSBO.com, the platform will benefit NEXA due to lead discounts and lead aggregation. Similarly, Kortas confirmed to HousingWire on Thursday that he alone owns evoLend and that it will operate independently, not under NEXA’s ownership.