NEW YORK, June 9 (UPI) -- In a move that could shake up the housing finance industry, small online lender E*Trade Mortgage Corp. said it will offer portable mortgages.
E*Trade Mortgage, a subsidiary of Menlo Park, Calif.-based E*Trade Group said it would allow customers to transfer mortgages from one home to the next.
It will offer a portable 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan to any home buyer who qualifies for a mortgage, but it won't offer the product for homeowners seeking to refinance.
The lender, which deals primarily with borrowers with high-grade credit, serviced about 40,000 customers last year.
The impact of E*Trade's gambit is likely to be limited in the short term and it will be difficult for larger, more-traditional lenders to follow suit.
"This will allow people to take advantage of incredibly low interest rates and apply it to the future," Arlen Gelbard, president of E*Trade Bank, told the Wall Street Journal.
