According to HousingWire, Truss Financial Group has made a significant move by adding direct lending capabilities to its existing brokerage business. The California-based firm, which was founded in 2006 and specializes in nontraditional mortgage products, now handles its own underwriting and funding for loans in California while maintaining relationships with more than ninety wholesale partners across the country. This hybrid approach gives them the ability to control speed and transparency on loans they originate directly while still accessing a broader range of products through their partner network.
The company's expansion into direct lending is designed to serve three main borrower segments. They focus on bank-statement loans for self-employed individuals, debt-service-coverage ratio loans for real estate investors, and home equity products for seniors. By bringing underwriting in-house, Truss can move faster for these borrowers and provide more direct visibility into the approval process.
This direct lending move builds on product innovations Truss has recently introduced. Earlier this year, they launched a DSCR-based home equity line of credit that lets residential investors access up to a million dollars in equity from their rental properties without having to verify personal income or refinance existing mortgages. Now that they can underwrite and fund directly, they can offer these specialized products with greater speed and control.
According to the company's leadership, the hybrid model gives them the best of both worlds. They get the efficiency and transparency benefits of direct underwriting for loans they originate, while keeping access to a wide array of products through their wholesale channels. The company plans to expand direct lending beyond California over the coming quarters, though they'll maintain their broad wholesale network regardless.
What I am seeing locally in the Bay Area and East Bay is that borrowers who don't fit traditional lending boxes are increasingly important to our market. Self-employed professionals and real estate investors are a significant part of what keeps our region moving, and having lenders who understand their specific needs and can move quickly makes a real difference in whether deals close.
