US lender files for bankruptcy (American Home Mortgage)

US lender files for bankruptcy

Daniel Wagner
August 8, 2007


AFTER weeks of speculation followed by a spectacular collapse, American Home Mortgage has filed for bankruptcy protection, a victim of tightening credit markets and the decreasing value of its loan portfolio.

The company filed papers for Chapter 11 protection in a US bankruptcy court in Delaware.

"It is unfortunate that American Home Mortgage, a company we built into a highly successful business, experienced this sudden reversal of its fortunes due to the unanticipated and rather sudden deteriorations in the secondary and national real estate markets," the company's founder and chief executive officer, Michael Strauss, said in a news release.

The release said the company would use bankruptcy to maximise the value of its assets and operation and ensure "an orderly wind down of the company" - a clear indication, analysts said, of American Home's intention to cease operations.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/us-lender-files-for-bankruptcy/2007/08/07/1186252705079.html