Dovenmuehle Mortgage to lay off several hundred in Illinois

Dovenmuehle Mortgage, a mortgage sub-servicing company, has informed authorities in Illinois that it will impose a layoff affecting hundreds of employees next year. 

The company has decided to cut 212 jobs in its Lake Zurich site starting on Feb. 16, 2024, per a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filed with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. 

“This action is a partial reduction in the company’s workforce at the site above; the company intends to continue operations at this site; this action is expected to be permanent,” Lisa Herrmann, assistant vice president of human resources at Dovenmuehle, wrote in the document sent on Dec. 14 to the state authority. 

A spokesperson for the company wrote in an emailed response to HousingWire that, as a private company, “Dovenmuehle does not comment on internal matters, including workforce details.” The spokesperson did not provide more details, such as the reasons for the workforce reduction and the jobs affected. 

However, higher mortgage rates this year led mortgage origination volume to decline to $1.6 trillion, compared to $2.2 trillion the previous year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Volumes are expected to increase 22% in 2024 to $2 trillion. 

Dovenmuehle, founded in 1844, provides a private-label mortgage sub-servicing solution, per its website. It is a sub-servicer for commercial banks, credit unions, independent mortgage lenders, MSR investors and state housing finance agencies nationwide.

Its services include portfolio, government, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. 

In September, it appointed Robert Howerton as chief information officer to oversee the company’s IT infrastructure. Before joining Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Howerton was IBM’s leader platform security engineer.