Key facts
- Absolute said First Option will migrate onto its platform and operate as a DBA unit after regulatory approval.
- Alvin Shah will become chief strategy officer, responsible for strategic expansion and additional acquisitions, per the announcement.
- Absolute said the combined platform with Mortgage Equity Partners is positioned to originate approximately $4 billion annually once approvals are complete.
- Modex data cited in the announcement shows Absolute closed roughly 3,000 loans and $1.13 billion in volume over the past 12 months.
Absolute Home Mortgage Corp. announced on November 4, 2026, a strategic transaction with First Option Mortgage that the New Jersey-based lender said would position the combined independent mortgage bank to grow its originations volume. Absolute said the move was not considered a merger or acquisition.
Under the plan, Georgia-based First Option will migrate onto Absolute's platform and continue to operate as a DBA unit after regulatory approval. First Option executives will join Absolute's ownership and governance structure. Alvin Shah and Kurt Nikolai will join Absolute's ownership group and board of directors, pending regulatory approval. Shah will become chief strategy officer, responsible for strategic expansion and additional acquisitions, according to the announcement.
Absolute said the platform, combined with its wholly owned subsidiary Mortgage Equity Partners, is "positioned to originate approximately $4 billion annually" once approvals are complete. That volume would give the lender additional operating leverage at a time when many independent mortgage banks are looking to scale up or sell, according to the announcement.
Data from Modex cited in the announcement shows Absolute closed roughly 3,000 loans and $1.13 billion in volume over the past 12 months, with 250 producing loan officers across 33 branches. First Option produced $398 million across 1,300-plus units and has 91 producing loan officers across 11 branches. Massachusetts-based Mortgage Equity Partners has 81 producing loan officers across 19 branches, with total volume of $613 million on nearly 1,600 loans in the past year.
"This partnership is exciting. We have proven what we can do together in the face of adversity and tough market conditions," Matthew VanFossen, CEO of Absolute Home Mortgage Corp., said in a statement. "Now we are 100% confident that we are strategically positioned to scale. There is no better time to capitalize on the foundation we have built."
Absolute said Shah, Nikolai and VanFossen have worked in "close strategic alignment" for years, operating separate independent mortgage banks but maintaining similar approaches to operating models, culture and growth. "We have been building toward this for years, on the operating model, on the culture and on the vision," Nikolai said in a statement. "We have been strategically aligned for years, and we have seen firsthand how well our teams work together. Bringing our two lenders together makes natural sense."