Irvine-based subprime lender BNC Mortgage Inc., part of Lehman Brothers Holdings Corp., is set to close its 30 branches in the next 18 months and lay off nearly a quarter of its 1,700 workers in the next three months, according to reports.
The moves are a result of a planned combination of BNC with Lehman’s Aurora Loan Services LLC of Colorado.
Lehman bought BNC, which funds subprime and slightly less risky Alt-A loans brought to it from brokers, in 2000. Lehman started Aurora in 1997.
The combined businesses will operate from five regional centers in Orange County and Northern California’s Concord, as well as in Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia, according to a MarketWatch report.
BNC laid off about 100 Orange County workers in early 2006, which was about a quarter of its local workforce. Aurora closed its Irvine office around the same time, cutting about another 100 jobs.
