In a year that saw the termination of their CEO and the eventual sale of their company, over 150 former team members of Civic Financial Services were on hand to launch a new business-purpose lender two weeks ago.
Los Angeles-based CV3 Financial Services, which specializes in investor lending for fix-and-flip and rental purchases, celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 31, a little more than seven months after its former parent, PacWest Bancorp, first announced a major restructuring of Civic, which included the termination of its then-CEO William Tessar.
Originally founded in 2014 through a partnership between Wedgewood and one of its subsidiaries, Civic Financial was later acquired by PacWest in 2021 during the mortgage boom and has come in at or near the top of the list of National Mortgage News’ best companies to work for two years running. The name of the new company represents the third incarnation of its team, according to Tessar.
“The way I think about CV3, it’s our core group, version three, and there are no legacy issues. You have lessons learned and let’s be clear, we will thrive again,” Tessar said in an interview with National Mortgage News.
“It’s not a startup. It’s a restart of something that was incredibly special in the marketplace and I think our customers will be the judge of that.”
As PacWest sought to reduce costs and improve its capital position after announcing its initial plans for Civic Financial in January, the Beverly Hills, California-based bank laid off hundreds of the lender’s employees. Later, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank spurred concerns about the stability of similar regional financial institutions, precipitating a run on PacWest deposits.
In May, PacWest sold off the lender’s origination assets, which included the original Civic Financial branding, website and trademarks but no loans or staff, to Roc360, before the bank itself was acquired by Banc of California in a still-pending merger.
Although it debuts only a few months after the selloff of Civic Financial, the development for CV3 was laid well before the events of 2023 and went through several twists and turns, Tessar said. The company is also coming to market during one of the most challenging periods for lenders in recent history.
Tessar spoke to National Mortgage News the day after CV3’s launch to discuss the path taken toward creating a new company and its strategy amid today’s lending headwinds.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
