Civic workers not a part of Roc360 deal

The Roc360 acquisition of Civic Financial Services did not include any of the residential real estate investor mortgage lender’s employees, a memo obtained by National Mortgage News stated.

When PacWest Bancorp chief operating officer Mark Yung informed Civic’s remaining employees that the company would either sell or wind down the business, the lender’s management was looking to keep as many people together — both front– and back-end — as possible, an anonymous source said.

Roc360, also known as Roc Capital Holdings, was reportedly only interested in the sales staff, which was not aligned with that goal, the source said. So Roc360 only acquired the origination assets, including the brand, trademarks and website.

All current Civic employees — with the exception of a handful needed to manage the loan portfolio and be shifted over to PacWest — will be terminated as of Friday, May 26, the memo said. 

However, Roc360 is drafting offer letters for a multitude of roles, according to another person familiar with the situation. The transaction has already closed.

For the past three years, Civic has been on National Mortgage News’ Best Companies to Work for listings. It took the top spot for 2022 and place 4th in 2023; the research for this year’s rankings was done prior to PacWest’s decision to bring this business more under its direct control.

PacWest began taking a closer look at Civic’s operations earlier this year, when it brought the management in-house following its own change at the top. This included firing Civic’s former head William Tessar and putting Yung in place to oversee the business. PacWest acquired Civic in February 2021.

The closure came after Civic reportedly posted its best year ever in 2022 with $3 billion in production.

Back in February, PacWest reduced the headcount at Civic by approximately 200 employees. The latest move eliminates another 200 or so positions. As of May 24, a WARN Act notice for this latest layoff has not been posted on California’s website.

Roc360 currently operates Roc Capital, Finance of America Commercial, ElmSure, Wimba Title, and Tamarisk Appraisals. It licensed the FOA brand from that company after the transaction was completed in March.

In 2022, Roc360 affiliates and Civic together funded more than $7.6 billion in business-purpose loans, the acquirer’s press release said.