Kind Lending taps Tammy Richards to grow retail

Kind Lending has big plans to grow its retail channel and is signaling this by putting industry veteran Tammy Richards in charge of the operations.

Richards joined the Santa Ana, California-based shop in early 2024 as the company's chief operating officer. According to Richards, her first 11 months at Kind were focused on "building the company's infrastructure to help get it to the next level from an operational perspective." 

Now all gears are in motion for Kind to double down on building out an originations team. The industry veteran notes she has plans to grow the channel "exponentially." 

Her background is primarily in managing retail operations for a range of mortgage lenders, including stints at Caliber Home Loans, Bank of America, and Loandepot.

Thus far, Kind Lending has a little over 100 sponsored loan officers, per the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.

But with Richards at the helm, steps will be taken to bring onboard strong originators and branch managers. The executive does not rule out acquiring other nonbanks as a means to grow its producer headcount.

"My vision is to grow and to scale the retail group and to be able to be a big player in the retail landscape," said Richards Thursday. "I'm looking for branch managers and loan officers to join the team, and I think now is the right time for them to join. We will be growing both organically and through acquisition."

The executive noted Kind will also be partnering more actively with home builders for joint venture relationships. The mortgage lender is already in at least two such partnerships, including one with RE/MAX Results.

The strategic steps being taken echo the approach Glenn Stearns used to build Stearns Lending, which he founded in 1989 and sold in 2015.

Stearns has publicly expressed regret over the company's direction after selling a 70% stake to Blackstone Group. Four years after that deal, Stearns Lending filed for bankruptcy.

It seems he may be aiming to rebuild and make better what once existed.

"Glenn Stearns is trying to grow a legacy," said Richards. "It's not just a company, Kind is our culture and is a movement within the industry which aims to put kindness back into mortgage banking."

Kind Lending has mainly been a player in the wholesale space, with Stearns noting in a past interview that he is excited to give companies operating in this channel a "run for their money." "We're taking their market share, and it'll be fun again," he said. "I hope I can help change the industry and make it not so callous."