Lydia Sacasa has been in mortgage banking in South Florida for more than 25 years, so it is a good bet that she knows her business.

Lydia Sacasa is ready to handle your mortgage needs.

"I started working in the mortgage business when I was 17 years old," said Sacasa, Florida regional production manager and vice president of Union Planters Mortgage, 7700 N. Kendall Dr. "I started with Financial Federal, an old Savings and Loan Institution in Miami, and I was with them for nine years."

Sacasa, 43, who came to the United States from Cuba in 1959 at age 4, grew up on Miami Beach, attending St. Patrick's School and then graduating Miami Beach High in 1974.

She began her banking career while still in high school and continued in mortgage banking even while she was enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College. Over the years, she has worked for Loan America, NCNB (which became Nations Bank and then Bank America) and was manager of the Chase Manhattan office in Miami before agreeing to come to Union Planters.

"I was hired by Union Planters to open up the mortgage division last year," she said. "I think it's important to remember that we are a division of the bank and not just a mortgage broker. We are a mortgage banker."

Sacasa, a Pinecrest resident and mother of three, pointed out that while she opened the office in October 1998, it really didn't start doing business until January 1999.

"So, we're not even a year old," she said. "Yet, this mortgage office has done very well in a year that has not been the best for the mortgage industry as a whole. We'll end up originating bout $75 million in new loans this year, which is very good for a new office."

Sacasa noted that as a division of Union Planters Bank, her office has a wide range of products available that many other banks do not offer.

"We can cater to any type of home buyer that comes in our door," she explained. "We don't have to go after the typical vanilla-cut buyer who would conform to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac products."

Sacasa said when Union Planters completed its banking acquisitions in South Florida, it had virtually no mortgage presence here. To penetrate the market, Union Planters officials decided to offer all the types of products and services. As a result, Union Planters Mortgage can arrange mortgage loans for people who may have problems on their credit records, such as bankruptcy or late payment history, she said.

"A lot of our business is 'credit score' driven and a lot of things could affect the credit scores," she said. "The BC [bad credit] paper product is usually a higher priced product [mortgage], but it will accommodate those people who otherwise would not be able to get financing. We also have 'no income' products [mortgages] for people who do not declare all of their income because of writeoffs and things of that nature."

Sacasa said that the Memphis, Tennessee-based Union Planters is a very old institution, dating back to the middle of the 19th Century.

"It's not a new bank by any means," she said. "And it's a big bank, the 29th largest in the United States with over $34 billion in assets."

She said Union Planters services all of Florida with 88 branches scattered throughout the state.

"Our office is very accessible to the Pinecrest and Coral Gables areas," she said. "And we have bilingual loan officers that will cater to all clientele."