Houston-based Selene Finance LP is negotiating $525,000 in city and state incentives to expand its Jacksonville operations by 105 jobs, almost doubling its current workforce of 119 employees
Legislation was filed Friday with City Council for fast-track review. Selene Finance would pay an average salary of $48,813, with average benefits of $7,000 a year, by Dec. 31, 2015.
Selene Finance, a residential mortgage company that provides mortgage loan servicing, asks for a Qualified Target Industry tax refund, with $105,000, or 20 percent, from the city and $420,000, or 80 percent, from the state.
The refund would be paid after the jobs are created and taxes are paid. The development agreement states that 24 jobs would be created by the end of this year and 81 by the end of 2015.
Selene Finance is considering leasing 34,000 square feet of additional space at 8201 Cypress Plaza Drive, near its existing facility at 7077 Bonneval Road, in Suite 430, according to the project summary and development agreement.
The expansion represents a $500,000 capital investment in IT equipment, furniture and other items. The additional payroll from the expansion, including benefits, totals $5.9 million, the summary said.
Selene Finance would create jobs for mortgage resolution specialists and case management professionals. Existing employees handle loan resolution activities, collections, legal/compliance, training and customer service functions.
Selene Finance, founded in 2007, is a special servicer “providing creative loan resolution strategies designed to preserve homeownership,” according to its website.
The company has expanded its portfolio to include performing accounts. It currently manages about 72,000 loans with an overall value of $11 billion.
In March, Selene Finance and Carrington Mortgage Services won a joint Ginnie Mae — Government National Mortgage Association — award for servicing mortgages, adding another $4.5 billion of loans to their portfolio in the coming months.
Selene Holdings LLC is the parent company of Selene and is owned by Selene Investments LLC. Selene’s servicing operation is headquartered in Houston with additional servicing sites in Horsham, Pa., and Jacksonville.
The project summary states Jacksonville is competing with those two cities for the expansion.
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