Fremont Bank

Last updated
Fremont Bank
Company typePrivate
Industry Banking
Founded1964
Headquarters Fremont, California
Key people
Andrew Mastorakis, President & CEO
Revenue$17,600,000
Number of employees
500+
Website www.fremontbank.com

Fremont Bank is a retail and commercial bank and California mortgage lender. Founded in 1964, Fremont Bank is one of the oldest independent family-owned and managed banks in the state. It has 20 branches [1] across the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Monterey with retail loan offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles counties.

Contents

History

Fremont Bank was founded in 1964 by Morris Hyman, a World War II veteran who came to the Bay Area with his family in 1945. Morris died in October 2005. His three children now manage Fremont Bank.

In 1968, Fremont Bank launched one of the first iterations of Saturday banking. In the late 1980s, Fremont Bank developed the “No Closing Cost” Loan Program which reduced the borrowers' costs of refinancing their mortgage with fees refunded at closing. These fees were a direct result of changes in mortgage lending practices that involved title insurance policies, appraisals, escrow services, and other changes that affected mortgage lending. The "No Closing Cost" loan was charged at a slightly higher rate and sold in the secondary market at a price high enough to cover the closing costs and bank overhead while generating a profit for the bank.

Community efforts

The ’’Fremont Bank Foundation’’ (FBF) was established in 1995 under the direction of Fremont Bank's late founder, Morris Hyman, and his late wife, Alvirda. FBF is an independent, private, grant making foundation that is solely funded by Fremont Bank. Formed with an initial investment of $20,000, the Foundation now receives a significant percentage of Fremont Bank's pre-tax income each year. These funds allow Fremont Bank to fund local nonprofit organizations. Their greatest contribution to date has been $3,800,000 for a new critical care facility at Washington Hospital in Fremont.

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Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance predominantly found in the United States and Canada which insures against financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceability of mortgage loans. Unlike some land registration systems in countries outside the United States, US states' recorders of deeds generally do not guarantee indefeasible title to those recorded titles. Title insurance will defend against a lawsuit attacking the title or reimburse the insured for the actual monetary loss incurred up to the dollar amount of insurance provided by the policy.

Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under a different term and interest rate. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic factors such as inherent risk, projected risk, political stability of a nation, currency stability, banking regulations, borrower's credit worthiness, and credit rating of a nation. In many industrialized nations, common forms of refinancing include primary residence mortgages and car loans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annual percentage rate</span> Interest rate for a whole year

The term annual percentage rate of charge (APR), corresponding sometimes to a nominal APR and sometimes to an effective APR (EAPR), is the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mortgage loan, credit card, etc. It is a finance charge expressed as an annual rate. Those terms have formal, legal definitions in some countries or legal jurisdictions, but in the United States:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second mortgage</span> Additional loan

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References

  1. "Locations & ATMs | Fremont Bank".