WALNUT CREEK, CA, February 15, 2016– Mechanics Bank has appointed Randal W. Stoller as Senior Vice President in charge of residential mortgage lending, a new position for the Bank.
“The market for residential mortgage lending post crisis has largely been limited to the large National Banks,offering relatively few products with very rigid underwriting criteria and a complex loan origination process that many borrowers find challenging. This market dynamic has opened up a real opportunity for Mechanics Bank to address the needs of a significant group of underserved, high quality borrowers for whom a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work,” says Ken Russell, Mechanics Bank President and CEO. “In the current, prolonged low rate environment, and given the bank’s strong balance sheet, it makes sense for us to expand our residential mortgage lending effort. Mr. Stoller’s exceptional mortgage finance expertise makes him a great fit for this position.”
“The residential lending markets in Northern California and the Bay Area in particular, have great potential for creative, high touch mortgage lenders that are willing to think outside the box,” says Mr. Stoller. “Although we’ve seen continued expansion and home price appreciation during this economic recovery, there remain a large number of potential borrowers that are renting for a variety of reasons. As the rent/buy equation begins to favor home ownership and with incomes beginning to accelerate at this stage in the economic cycle, the release of this pent up demand for housing should result in increased mortgage financing opportunities for lenders. Mechanics Bank is uniquely positioned to capitalize on that opportunity.”
Mr. Stoller has 34 years of institutional structured finance, investment banking and mortgage market experience, including 17 years with Lehman Brothers, Salomon Brothers and Citibank Global Investment Bank in New York and San Francisco. Prior to his investment banking tenure, he spent five years as a Senior Mortgage Portfolio Manager at Golden West Financial Corporation, the parent of World Savings and Loan Association. In 2005, he co -founded Falcon Bridge Capital, a mortgage securities asset management firm and also launched a private consulting and advisory practice in 2008 with an emphasis on assisting
environmentally, socially and economically responsible, non-profit enterprise.
Mr. Stoller has a B.S. degree in Finance from The McLaren College of Business at The University of San Francisco, Summa Cum Laude, 1982 and has passed the SEC and FINRA Series 7 and 63 examinations.
About Mechanics Bank
Mechanics Bank, established in 1905, is an independent, full service community bank
headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA. With more than $3.6 billion in assets, it is the largest bank headquartered in the Bay Area’s East Bay region. Its 30 branch offices throughout Northern California provide a highly personalized relationship banking experience that includes consumer and business banking services, commercial lending, cash management services, and comprehensive trust and wealth management services. Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.
For more information go to www.mechanicsbank.com.