CEO of shuttered Athas Capital launches new non-QM lending shop

One of the co-founders of now-shuttered Athas Capital Group is getting back into the game with the launch of a non-QM company in early May.

Brian O'Shaughnessey's new lending outfit, dubbed Imperial Bancorp, LLC, will be up and running in a few months, depending on how quickly the executive can jump through the hoops of getting the mortgage shop licensed. 

O'Shaughnessy plans to run a lean shop with a strong team of originators. "It's going to be a smaller crew with more dedication," he said. 

The executive will be in hiring mode in the latter part of the year.

In November, executives at Athas, which was also a non-QM lender, noted that they were closing the company's doors after 14 years in the expectation that the market will "deteriorate even further." "The writing is on the wall in regards to significant challenges that our sector will continue to face for the foreseeable future," said Alim Kassam, co-chief executive officer at Athas, in a statement.Looking back, O'Shaughnessy notes that if they did not shutter the business when they did, "over $20 million would've been set on fire."

The forecast of market instability partially rang true, with havoc unfolding for regional banks and mass layoffs that took place in the mortgage industry. However, going forward, O'Shaughnessy's outlook for the mortgage industry has brightened."We have some headwinds with real estate depreciation, the economy and where that's going, but I know that that's going to change," he said. "As far as the Fed and interest rates, I'm betting they will pause and maybe there's some quantitative easing coming later on this year."

Though the Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points on May 4, most industry stakeholders believe that a pause is on the horizon.

"It will take me about four to six months to get licensed and figure out who's going to run the company and the management team and [by the end of this year] I think spreads and interest rates will tighten and loans will be worth more, making a more favorable environment for a startup company," O'Shaughnessey added.

His former partners from Athas will not be part of the newly launched business venture.

Employees from the now shuttered non-QM company have been swept up by other non-QM lenders, including Lendmarq and Hometown Equity Mortgage, LLC.

"Everyone at Athas was family to me and it was a very innovative company, a leader in non-QM," O'Shaughnessey said.