Bank of America back on top 10 list of commercial, multifamily originators

For the first time in four years, Bank of America is among the top 10 commercial and multifamily lenders, according to a 2012 data the Mortgage Bankers Association released this week.

Bank of America fell off the association's top 10 list in 2009, the same year it bought Merrill Lynch. Since then, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo has been the country's No. 1 originator of commercial and multifamily loans.

The MBA ranks 111 originators in its annual report.

In January, Bank of America reported that it had loaned nearly $8.7 billion to small businesses in 2012, an increase of 28 percent from 2011. Also in January, the bank said it had pumped up its number of small-business bankers by 1,000.

“With the creation of the small business banker role, Bank of America responded directly to what our clients asked for: locally based small-business experts who provide small businesses with the financial solutions necessary to sustain and grow their business,” Robb Hilson, Bank of America small-business executive, said in a January press release.

But in a fourth-quarter report, the U.S. Small Business Administration said some small businesses are struggling to get loans. In the fourth quarter, small-business lending was up for the first time in 10 quarters, the SBA said.

Lending for small and large businesses is improving only slightly, the SBA said.