San
Jose-based

EquiFi
Corp.,
a
provider
of
shared
equity
financing
products,
announced
Thursday
that
it
hired
Paul
Giangrande
as
a
corporate
executive
vice
president
and
president
of
its

mortgage
division.

Giangrande
previously
served
as
president
of

AmeriCash
Mortgage
and
has
more
than
30
years
of
experience
in
the
financial
services
and
mortgage
arenas.
At
AmeriCash,
he
oversaw
more
than
300
employees
and
helped
the
company
close
more
than
$18
billion
in
home
loans.

“Paul
brings
a
distinguished
reputation
in
the
mortgage
industry
with
an
uncanny
sense
of
distribution.
We
are
honored
to
have
him
lead
our
expanding
mortgage
financing
efforts,”
David
Shapiro,
EquiFi’s
CEO
and
founder,
said
in
a
statement.
“His
impressive
industry
acumen
and
established
mortgage
credentials
add
significant
strength
and
valuable
perspective
to
our
management
team.”

In
his
new
role,
Giangrande
will
initially
work
toward
scaling
the
company’s
state
licensing
efforts
to
grow
future
market
opportunities.
According
to
its
website,
EquiFi
is
currently
available
in

California
only
but
is
set
to
expand
to
more
than
a
dozen
other
states.

Giangrande
will
also
lead
negotiation
efforts
for
wholesale
brokerage
agreements
with
mortgage
companies
that
seek
to
partner
on
EquiFi’s
home
equity
investment
(HEI)
contract
and
other
products.
And
he
will
oversee
development
and
implementation
of
the
firm’s
marketing
strategy
and
distribution
processes.

“EquiFi
is
a
company
unlike
any
other
in
our
business,
offering
homebuyers
and
homeowners
the
ability
to
utilize
equity
financing
in
a
home
to
help
achieve
their
financial
objectives,”
Giangrande
said
in
a
statement.
“Every
consumer
deserves
to
work
with
a
trusted
advisor
when
financing
their
homes,
and
I
am
excited
to
join
EquiFi
to
help
change
this
industry
for
the
better.”

Shared
equity
agreements,
also
known
as
home
equity
investments,
are

growing
in
prominence
in
the
home
lending
space,
although
they
remain
small
in
comparison
to
traditional
mortgage
volumes.

Companies
such
as

Aspire,


Hometap,

Point,


Rook
Capital,


Splitero,


Unison
and

Unlock
offer
alternatives
to
home
equity
loans,
home
equity
lines
of
credit
(HELOCs)
and
cash-out
refinances
by
allowing
homeowners
to
access
equity
without
taking
on
installment-based
debt
repayments.
Homeowners
typically
repay
the
funds
provided
by
selling
their
property,
with
the
HEI
provider
recouping
their
initial
investment
plus
a
portion
of
the
sales
price.

The
products
have
gained
traction
due
to
interest
from
secondary
market
investors,
who
have
purchased
billions
in
securities
over
the
past
few
years.
According
to
data
from

DBRS
Morningstar,
at
least
nine
securitizations
involving
HEI-type
agreements
totaling
$1.89
billion
have
been
issued
since
August
2021.

Related