Meridian Capital Group Approved to Re-Enter Fannie Mae Loan Market

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meridian Capital Group, one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance, investment sales, and retail leasing advisors, announced today that Fannie Mae lenders may resume requesting quotes for Meridian-brokered loans effective immediately.

“Meridian has made investments in people, processes, and technology to implement a risk management and internal control environment that is best-in-class among commercial mortgage brokerages,” said Brian Brooks, chairman and CEO of Meridian. “We appreciate Fannie Mae’s recognition of our commitment to continuous improvement in these areas and look forward to offering our clients a full suite of financing options, including agency execution.”

Melissa Martinez, Meridian’s Chief Risk Officer, said, “Risk management is an enabler for our clients. The process oversight we have put in place will give lenders confidence that Meridian transactions have been carefully reviewed in a process that is as robust as you would expect from a bank.”

Over the past year, Meridian has enhanced its governance and risk management framework in numerous ways including:

• The appointment of two new independent board members: Andrew Bon Salle, Fannie Mae’s former EVP and head of single-family business and HomePoint’s former chairman; and Pat Jackson, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of real estate investment manager Sabal Investment Holdings.
• The appointment of the firm’s first Chief Risk Officer, Melissa Martinez, former chief risk officer of CoreLogic and OneWest Bank.
• The creation of new underwriting processes through which all brokered transactions will undergo a pre-screening process to ensure compliance and approval based on size of loan and risks.
• The establishment of a Management Credit Approval Committee to review large loans and all Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans prior to funding.
• The development of a quarterly Loan Review process to ensure compliance after transactions have been completed and sets corrective actions should errors or violations be identified, ranging from retraining to suspension to termination.

Meridian has arranged more than $550 billion in commercial real estate financing for more than 11,000 customers since its founding. The company has repeatedly been the number one commercial mortgage broker by transaction count and a top five broker by dollar volume. Meridian re-entered the Freddie Mac market effective January 1, 2025.

About Meridian Capital Group
Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group is one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance, investment sales and retail leasing advisors. In 2023, Meridian closed over $27.4 billion in financing in 43 states across 269 unique lenders. Meridian represents many of the world’s leading real estate investors and developers and the company’s expansive platform has specialized practices for a broad array of property types including office, retail, multifamily, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, and healthcare and senior housing properties. Meridian is headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, and California. Learn more at www.meridiancapital.com.