American Home Mortgage: Latest Job Openings, Reviews and Ratings & Profile wise Salary Distribution

American Home Mortgage Careers & Info

Former CEO: Michael Strauss

Company Status: Defunct

Before filing for bankruptcy in 2007, American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation was one of the top retail mortgage lenders in the US. The 10th largest, it was structured as a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).

Although founded in New York City in 1987, the company was not traded publicly until September of 1999, when it was finally listed on the NASDAQ. Promptly, the corporate headquarters were relocated to Melville, NY, the following year to cut costs.

Still, the primary business of originating and servicing mortgages remained the same. In 2003, the company moved to the New York Stock Exchange, and then sold with the ticker AHM as an REIT after acquiring Marina Mortgage, Columbia National, and several other retail branches.

American Home Mortgage Investment originated its mortgages through brokers, as well as its own employees. The mortgages were serviced at the company's own servicing center located in Texas in the city of Irving. In the last year before its collapse, the company had made roughly $1.1 billion in revenue, amounting to $427 million in net income. Roughly 2.5% of the total US mortgage market was part of the American Home Mortgage culture.

Four years after the company moved to the stock exchange, it would announce its inability to fund loans after experiencing the effects of the subprime lending crisis. The company's critical mistake had been its issuing of prime loans without sufficient documentation of the fiscal solvency of the borrowers. Once people began defaulting on their mortgages, lenders began demanding back their money. Although American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation retained advisors to aid in a steady liquidation process, the stock plummeted 90% in August of '07 to $1.00 on the exchange, an event that would put an end to thousands of AHM careers.

There was soon little doubt that the company would go bankrupt. After the stock plunge, an email by CEO Michael Strauss confirmed the employees' worst fears. The following day, roughly 90% of them were laid off. Only members in the western division acquired by IndyMac Bank were able to hang on to their jobs, but that company also went bust, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Wilbur Ross & Co. bought what was left of American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation as part of the bankruptcy. 7000 employees who had been working at American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation lost their jobs and their American Home Mortgage benefits.

What jobs pay the most at American Home Mortgage?

Executive Vice President is the highest paying job at American Home Mortgage at $313,000 annually.