Atlanta mortgage lender to lay off dozens of workers
An Atlanta residential mortgage company will lay off dozens of workers as it is absorbed into the operations of national homebuilder Taylor Morrison.
Silverton Mortgage, which has its headquarters at Midtown’s Colony Square, will cut 73 workers at the office, according to a state filing.
The separations will begin Dec. 31 and continue through next May, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. The advance notifications are required under the WARN Act for certain plant closings and mass layoffs.
Silverton is a subsidiary of Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
In July, Berkshire Hathaway completed its acquisition of national home builder Taylor Morrison for about $8.5 billion, including debt. Now, Silverton will consolidate its operations into Taylor Morrison.
“As a result of the integration of site-builder lending services with Taylor Morrison’s financial services operations, certain positions with Silverton Mortgage will be eliminated,” a spokesperson for Silverton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement.
The spokesperson said affected Silverton workers would be offered severance resources and that the company was committed to supporting them “with care and respect.”
The job cuts also come during a difficult time in housing.
Mortgage rates have recently soared above 7%, which has chilled an already sluggish housing market. In September, home sales in the 12-county metro Atlanta region dipped almost 10% from the same month a year ago, according to data from the Georgia Multiple Listing Service.
“Compared to a year ago, mortgage payments are up more than seven percent, outpacing earnings growth and adding to the affordability challenges facing prospective homebuyers,” Edward Seiler, associate vice president of housing economics for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a late October news release.
Amid the higher borrowing costs, the association predicts that total single-family mortgage originations will decline more than 5% in 2027 compared to this year.
It’s not clear yet if Silverton will close its Colony Square office.
Silverton was founded in 1998 “with just two employees working from an Atlanta bedroom” and grew into a national mortgage lender, according to a news release when it was acquired by Vanderbilt in 2018.
