RV Loans Approved for Motorhomes, Fifith Wheels & Travel trailers by Bank of Internet
SAN DIEGO, CA ��� (MARKET WIRE) ��� March 13, 2007 ��� In response to inquireries, Bank of Internet USA (the "Bank"), subsidiary of B of I Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOFI), today announced that it has funded RV Loans for the first time in March. In October of 2006, B of I announced its intention to focus lending efforts on home equity loans and start a recreational vehicle lending program.
Portfolio Credit Quality
The Bank also reaffirmed that it does not originate subprime loans, and it has never invested in subprime loans or subprime mortgage backed securities.
"We believe the recent collapse of certain subprime mortgage lenders confirms our decision more than a year ago to invest in high quality U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities rather than loosen our whole loan origination standards," said Mr. Evans. "The credit quality of our mortgage loan portfolio remains strong at the end of this quarter, March 31, 2007."
Bank���s credit quality highlights:
* Asset quality is exceptional with the expectation of no nonperforming mortgage loans at March 31, 2007.
* No exposure to the subprime lending problems announced by other lenders in recent months.
* Originating home equity second mortgage loans and RV loans with borrowers who have above average credit characteristics.
* Will continue to invest in high quality mortgage backed securities.
"We recognize that RV lending has more credit risk than prime mortgage lending and that as our portfolio grows, it is unlikely that we will be able to avoid credit losses, as we have in our mortgage loan portfolio, ��� stated Mr. Evans. ���However, we have the right credit culture and based upon our limited results, we believe we can focus our originations on the most qualified RV borrowers across the country to help mitigate the credit risk."
Lending Initiatives
"We are encourage by the launch of our recreational vehicle financing and by the growth in our home equity loan originations," said Gary Lewis Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are now delivering on our pledge to shareholders to increase consumer loan originations and to add higher yielding loans to our portfolio."
Bank���s lending initiatives quality statistics:
The Bank���s historic portfolio quality is well documented. Preliminary statistics on our equity and RV loans follows.
* At quarter end March 31, 2007, we expect the home equity loan portfolio to have a weighted average rate of approximately 7.20%, an average FICO score of approximately 760 and a combined loan to value of approximately 62%
* At quarter end March 31, 2007, we expect the RV portfolio to have a weighted average rate of approximately 7.70% and a FICO of greater than 700.