CitiMortgage cuts 108 jobs in Pittsfield Township

St. Louis, Mo.-based CitiMortgage, which manages most of Citigroup Inc.’s $170 billion mortgage portfolio, is cutting 108 positions at its office in Avis Farms South off of State Road, CitiMortgage spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an e-mail.

Those workers will be eligible to apply for positions elsewhere in the national company, including the separate default servicing unit, which is adding 500 jobs in response to new federal regulations.

Overall, CitiMortgage is cutting about 400 jobs at five locations: Ann Arbor, St. Louis, Dallas and Las Vegas. After the cuts are complete, the company will have "more than 850 employees" in Pittsfield Township, Rodgers said.

"Due to ongoing challenges in the housing industry, including decreased consumer demand for new mortgages and refinancing, CitiMortgage is reducing its loan sales and fulfillment staffs by roughly 400 positions," Rodgers said in an emailed response to AnnArbor.com inquiries.

Mortgage originations, which numbered 1.57 million in 2010, are expected to sink 31.9 percent to 1.07 million in 2011, according to an independent forecast released April 14 by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgages are expected to drop to 966,000 in 2012.

Meanwhile, the number of refinanced mortgages is expected to drop 53.5 percent from 1.09 million in 2010 to 511,000 in 2011. That figure will sink to 236,000 in 2012, according to projections.

The cuts reflect the latest twist in a roller coaster ride for the 255,000-square-foot Pittsfield Township office. In 2008, the company announced plans to consolidate operations into the Pittsfield office only to shelve the plan in the midst of the financial crisis and then decide to press forward after all.

The company's local operation has vacillated from about 710 employees in August 2008 to 450 in December 2008 to 950 in June 2010.

CitiMortgage inherited the Pittsfield Township office after announcing on Jan. 22, 2007 — the same day Pfizer said it was leaving Ann Arbor — that it was acquiring ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc. ABN Amro had purchased the building for $37 million in 2005. CitiMortgage spun off from Citi in 2009 into a unit called Citi Holdings.

Rodgers said the workers who are not able to find a job elsewhere inside the company would receive "human resources counseling, including outplacement services and severance and other benefits based on position, length of service and other qualifying considerations."

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.