Chris Thrune has been promoted to Mortgage Lender at Merchants Bank, according to Sue Hovell, Director of Retail Banking Performance. Chris replaces Rhonda Merchlewitz, who retired in November after 23 years serving mortgage customers in St. Charles and Winona.
“It’s a huge benefit to have someone with Chris’s background as your Mortgage Lender,” said Hovell. “He knows all the complex details of the mortgage process and can really break it down for our customers to make things easy to understand.”
Thrune has been with Merchants Bank since 2013 and has spent the majority of his career in the mortgage area. In 2015 he became a Mortgage Lender for Merchants Bank in Cottage Grove before returning to Winona in 2018 as an Underwriter. He grew up in Winona and graduated from Winona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Finance.
“Being a Mortgage Lender in Winona is what I’ve always dreamed of doing,” said Thrune. “Working face-to-face with customers is what I truly enjoy and helping them get into their dream home is so rewarding.”
He and his wife, Larissa, live in the Winona area and are happy to have put down roots in their hometown. Chris volunteers annually for Merchants’ 10 Days of Giving food drive and is part of the Southeast Minnesota Realtors (SEMR) Events Committee. He is also looking forward to becoming more active in the community volunteer efforts. His hobbies include being outdoors, hiking and golfing.
The Merchants Bank Mortgage team is comprised of nearly 20 local mortgage lenders, available throughout our regional footprint, backed by our in-house mortgage processing, underwriting and loan servicing teams. In addition to traditional mortgage loans, Merchants mortgage lenders can assist with mortgage pre-approval, construction loans, and specialized mortgage programs such as VA, FHA, Rural Development and more available through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We’re committed to being there for our customers after loan closing and service nearly $2.6 billion in mortgage loans annually.
Merchants Bank is a full service community bank with 23 bank locations in southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin and a leasing division, Merchants Bank Equipment Finance, in Edina. Headquartered in Winona, MN, MFGI has more than $2.7 billion in assets. Merchants was founded in 1875. Loans are subject to approval.