LoanDepot partners with Texas builder for new lender launch

LoanDepot is behind a new mortgage business from West Texas-based Betenbough Cos., helping launch the affiliate as part of an expanded strategy to expand upon homebuilder partnerships.

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Olive Branch Home Loans will serve customers of Betenbough, a top 50 builder based in Lubbock. Betenbough sells its homes through eight sales centers located throughout West Texas. Its annual sales and deliveries top 2,000 units, according to the builder. The mortgage affiliate will be headed by LoanDepot’s Paul Boecker.   

LoanDepot’s newly expanded partnership model is intended to give homebuilders and their associated mortgage units an onramp toward scaling lending capabilities, allowing them to tap into the expertise, infrastructure and wholesale channel offered by the Irvine, California-based company, its leaders said. 

“We’re proud to collaborate with LoanDepot to turn our shared customer-first commitment into action as we continue growing our businesses. With this model, we’ll be able to deliver more predictable, faster closings so that our buyers experience a smoother path to move-in day,” Betenbough executive board member Brad Nelson said in a press release.

History of LoanDepot builder partnerships

The creation of Olive Branch is the latest in LoanDepot’s history of working with builders and comes after recent joint venture agreements with the likes of Smith Douglas Homes and Onx Homes in the past 24 months. Its longest-standing JV is with Meritage Homes, which was initiated by Imortgage more than 20 years ago, prior to the latter’s acquisition by LoanDepot. 

Unlike joint ventures, LoanDepot holds no ownership stake in Olive Branch, company representatives said. The strategic services partnership with Betenbough, however, represents “a reproducible playbook” for homebuilders looking to develop mortgage opportunities in-house, according to LoanDepot president of partnership lending Dan Pena. 

“By combining Betenbough Cos.’ deep understanding of local homebuyers with LoanDepot’s operational and customer service expertise, this collaboration puts the customer first, streamlining the process from application to closing and making homeownership more accessible, efficient and personalized,” Pena said. 

Founded in 1992, Betenbough Homes’ initial mission focused on building affordable properties for first-time buyers. Launched by the late father-and-son team of Rick and Ron Betenbough, the company is today owned by employees and runs an extended network of businesses that includes not only its home construction and sales centers, but a title firm, building supply company and religious leadership organization. 

How Olive Branch serves LoanDepot’s growth plans

The introduction of Olive Branch also marks the latest in a series of pivots reflecting LoanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh’s efforts to restore lending scope to the company he founded in 2010.  

Previously CEO from LoanDepot’s inception until 2022, Hsieh stepped down that year as the mortgage industry encountered steeply falling volumes and mounting strains on profitability.  

In turn, Hsieh’s successor, Frank Martell, diminished the mortgage lender’s footprint under his leadership tenure in an attempt to restructure and streamline its balance sheet, including through the elimination of jobs and business segments. The Martell era was also characterized by leadership clashes with Hsieh, who still held his board chairman position, over the appointment of new directors and the future of the company. 

Hsieh later exited from a day-to-day leadership role at LoanDepot in 2023 after a bitter proxy fight that same year. 

After returning to the helm in 2025, Hsieh immediately embarked on several new initiatives, emphasizing in public statements and earnings calls his intention to prioritize growth in expectation of rebounding origination volumes. 

Among his first moves was the promotion of Pena and the rehiring of former executives, who previously served under him. Earlier this year, LoanDepot also announced it would resume wholesale operations after it eliminated the channel in one of Martell’s first moves in 2022.