Now entering its 30th year of operation, First Cal has funded nearly $500 billion in residential loans in California as First California Mortgage Company and nationally as Mortgage Service America. Originally founded in 1977, the two companies grew to employ 2,800 people in 108 offices in 42 states.

In 1986 the firm expanded its operations, opening a wholesale division called Headlands Mortgage. First California Mortgage Company sold its loan and servicing operations to GMAC (formerly Homecomings Financial) in 1995. Three years later, Headlands was taken public (NASDAQ: HDLD) prior to being sold to GreenPoint Mortgage in 1999. 

First Cal resumed mortgage lending operations in 2003 to serve the needs of mortgage brokers and retail borrowers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since then, it has obtained licenses to lend in eight states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.