Former Senior Vice President at Washington Mutual and Sales Manager at Taylor, Bean & Whitaker
Mike Azzarello, a former Senior Vice President at Washington Mutual and Correspondent Lender at Taylor Bean, describes his work as a loan officer, where he focused on a territory and encouraged realtors to send potential buyers his way. Azzarello explains key distinctions between lending channels, such as correspondent vs. wholesale lending, and gives insight into his area of focus, correspondent lending and how it has changed over time into a commodity-focused market. He offers a timeline of his moves leading up the financial crisis, including moving from HomeSide Lending to Washington Mutual Bank and then Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker, and describes the culture at each lender at the time. A firm believer in the mortgage industry, he refused to take part in the subprime industry, even when his firm moved towards those mortgages, finding it the wrong type of product. In his perspective, the real estate bubble was the primary cause of the financial crisis –coupled with the loans made to borrowers who were unlikely to repay them and greed on Wall Street.
Date Recorded:
December 28, 2020
Interviewed by:
Carolyn Chen
A mortgage banker with over four decades of experience, Michael Azzarello, CMB is currently the Sales Director of Correspondent Lending at Caliber Home Loans. He also served as President of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida from 2019-2020. Previous to Caliber Home Loans, Azzarello also worked at FirstKey Mortgage, PlatinumHome Mortgage, and ICBA Mortgage Solutions. An expert within correspondent lending, Azzarello held senior roles within the Correspondent Lending Divisions of HomeSide Lending, Washington Mutual, and Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. Azzarello holds B.S. in Marketing and Business from the University of Illinois and is also an Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP) and Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB).
“Certified Mortgage Banker Profile.”Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida, 2020,
This profile of MichaelAzzarello uploaded by the Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida (MBAF) in 2020 describes some of his experiences with obtaining his Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation in 2005. The profile notes Azzarello’s position as Southeast Sales Director for states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi at Caliber Home Loans’ correspondent lending channel.
This article describes fears from June 2020 of a potential future foreclosure crisis in Florida due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some quoted experts are worried that high unemployment rates leading to a wave of foreclosures. Others are optimistic that fewer homeowners will lose their homes to foreclosure than expected. MichaelAzzarello is one of the experts quoted as not expecting a large number of COVID forbearance loans ending in foreclosure.
This article covers Platinum Home Mortgage Corporation announcing that MichaelAzzarello has been named senior vice president and managing director of the residential mortgage lender’s Traditional Correspondent Lending Division. His work with the group is based out of Jacksonville, Florida.
This article notes that MichaelAzzarello, the EVP of National Sales at ICBA Mortgage Solutions will lead a new sales team composed of seven new hires, all regional account managers, that will help support Independent Community Banks of America member banksthat arenavigating the mortgage industry.
This article was written when MichaelAzzarello was named the executive vice president of national sales for ICBA Mortgage Solutions (ICBAMS), which helps community bank members of the Independent Community Bankers of America originate, process, close, fund, and sell residential loans. Azzarello mentions how his new position helps community banks develop more expertise in the mortgage business and compete more successfully against larger counterparts.
This article covers Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp, one of the largest wholesale mortgage lenders in the US, establishing a nationwide Correspondent Lending Group in 2006. Michael Azzarello is mentioned as one of the industry veterans named to the management team of this new group. It describes how Azzarello will become the production manager and how he has thirty years of experience in the residential mortgage banking industry, working in the correspondent lending arena since 1994 with HomeSide Lending Inc., then later with Washington Mutual.
“Illinois MBA Elects Officers, Directors.” National Mortgage News. SourceMedia, March 5, 1990
This article notes new officers and directors installed to the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association. Michael Azzarello is mentioned as one of the new 1990 directors.
