Arbor’s Enduring History
Truly understanding a client’s needs and partnering with them through the financing process has helped differentiate the Arbor family of companies from its peers for more than two decades. From its beginning in 1983 as Arbor National Mortgage as a leading single-family residential lender, to its present-day status as a leading, nationwide multifamily lender, truly personalized relationship building has always been a part of Arbor’s roots.
Arbor National Mortgage, as the firm was originally known, was a household name in the New York Metropolitan area in late 1980s and early nineties and at one time employed 1,200 employees across eight states and closed every one in eight home loans. Working hard to brand its strong community ties, Arbor provide every one of its new homeowners with a tree for their yards, where so many remain today.
The brand strengthened and grew, and so did the platform. In the early nineties, a new subsidiary called Arbor National Commercial Mortgage was formed, planting the seed for the future commercial side of the business. Eventually, the residential side was sold for a nearly 100% investor return, but the commercial side of the business remained with Arbor and, in 1995, Arbor Commercial Mortgage was born.
Since that time Arbor has achieved many milestones, including becoming a Top 10 Fannie Mae DUS® Multifamily Lender eight years and counting, starting in 2007, and the Top Fannie Mae Small Loan Lender in 2014.
Small $1-million to $5-million loans have long been a part of Arbor’s business foundation, as the company was the first to beta test Fannie Mae’s small loan program in the mid-1990s and, in 2015, assisted in championing Freddie Mac’s own small balance loan product.
With a current servicing portfolio of more than $11 billion, Arbor holds an Above Average rating from Standard & Poor’s. Arbor is also on the Standard & Poor’s Select Servicer List and is a primary commercial loan servicer and loan level special servicer rated by Fitch Ratings. Arbor has also expanded to become one of the most diverse and flexible multifamily lenders in the market with a list of loan products uniquely comprehensive and customizable for borrowers’ individual needs. These include:
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
FHA
Bridge
CMBS
Mezzanine
Preferred Equity
Small Loans
Despite its continually growing loan product lineup, to Arbor, the client and the relationship remain the key to its success. So even today, Arbor is still committed to the same great customer service it started with in 1983, but with even deeper, longer-term relationships. Through more than three combined decades of business, Arbor’s clients know they have more than a lender, they have a partner.
