Dominion Mortgage Introduces New M-F Lending Program

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Dominion Mortgage Corp. has launched a new multifamily portfolio lending program that provides financing for a range of multi-family property types in major U.S. markets and, perhaps most importantly, allows borrowers to avoid the pesky red tape that goes hand in hand with the oft-used government-sponsored programs.

“Most commercial lenders routinely offer multifamily lending products, [and] Dominion sees that the majority of multifamily lenders in the marketplace tend to offer agency programs as their sole product,” Paul S. Horvitz, president of Dominion, told Commercial Property Executive.  “Agency loans are predominantly sold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Dominion’s true portfolio product opens up multifamily borrowing to property owners who, for whatever reason, did not want government-sponsored loan products.”

Dominion’s new program provides borrowers with fixed-rate loans as large as $30 million that can be amortized up to 30 years with fixed terms extending out to as many as 10 years. The program also fills a gap, supplying bridge products for renovations, bridge-to-sale and other endeavors that many apartment lenders do not embrace.

The nearly three-decade-old real estate lender adds further appeal to its new multifamily lending program by offering flexible underwriting and competitive rates, as well as by opening the platform to neglected segments of the borrowing population.  “Dominion lends to corporations, partnerships, and foreign nationals; groups that were previously excluded from the process,” Horvitz said.

The program also allows for cash out to most borrowers, another uncommon feature. As Horvitz noted, “Many borrowers have had a struggle when trying to get cash out and not just pay off the existing loan of record when refinancing.”

Dominion may be stepping on some toes with its new offering, but it is also creating new relationships. The company has already had more than a few referrals from bankers who don’t deal in multifamily loans. It’s no skin off the nose of these bankers, as Dominion has no requirement for a banking relationship, so there is no conflict of interest and the bank does not lose the borrower.

Dominion is hoping that if you build it—in this case, a niche lending program—they will come. “We hope that the borrowing public will be as excited by Dominion’s new multifamily lending programs as we are to offer them,” Keith Olson, Dominion’s executive vice president in charge of origination, noted in a prepared statement.