(RTTNews) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM: News ) said Tuesday that it plans to hire 1,200 mortgage loan officers by the end of 2010 in order to expand its home loan business. The company noted that the 60% increase in its sales force is intended to help more customers finance home purchases or reduce their monthly payments through refinances.

The new loan officers will serve customers through bank branches in 23 states, including key states such as California, Florida and Texas, and key metro areas such as New York and Chicago in addition to metro markets outside the bank's branch footprint, such as Boston, St. Louis and Washington D.C.

The new loan officers will work with personal bankers and referral sources, such as real estate agents and builders, as well as with their own network of homeowners.

Dave Lowman, head of home lending at Chase, said, "We have made a number of strategic investments in our organization. We have invested in new systems, aggressively grown our capacity and now are looking to increase our sales force. With our vast branch network and growing customer base, the opportunity for Chase loan officers is tremendous."

Lowman added that the increase in the sales force is to ensure that the company is well positioned when the housing market fully recovers.
Chase said it originated $37.1 billion in mortgages in the recent third quarter. The company also services $1.1 trillion of home loans.

The housing sector is one of the worst-affected by the subprime collapse and the credit crunch. With unemployment levels remaining high and loans becoming hard to come by, house purchases were fewer. However, declining home prices, historically low interest rates and government stimulus programs have now made it more compelling for homebuyers to enter the market.

On Monday, Chase, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it would increase its lending to small businesses by up to $4 billion in 2010. Chase, which has $29 billion in outstanding balances in loans, lines and credit card balances to businesses with annual sales of less than $20 million, also said it would hire 325 additional bankers to work at its branches to help business owners.

JPM closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $44.17, down $0.18 or 0.41% on a volume of 30.98 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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