AmTrust Bank of Cleveland, which until recently was the nation's third largest residential wholesaler, was seized by the government late Friday with a majority of its assets sold to New York Community Bank, Westbury, N.Y., a top ranked player in multifamily lending. A source familiar with the matter said the government actually took bids on AmTrust's operations two weeks ago, saying interested investors included BB&T, EverBank, Fifth Third Bancorp, Key Bank and others. Its failure is expected to cost the government roughly $2 billion. The lender's demise is yet another blow for loan brokers in search of wholesalers willing to table fund their customers. At press time, it was unclear whether NYCB would keep AmTrust's wholesale division intact. A thrift, AmTrust had $12 billion in assets and until a few years ago was called Ohio Savings and Loan. The thrift was a national correspondent originator, selling its conventional loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. NYCB paid no premium to assume all of AmTrust's $8 billion in deposits, and also agreed to take over $9 billion of the failed thrift's assets. New York Community and the FDIC will share losses on $6 billion of those assets. The nation's largest privately owned thrift, AmTrust had been stung by a string of losing quarters and mounting losses from construction and development loans. Last Monday its holding company, AmTrust Financial Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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In its latest financial stability report, the Federal Reserve found that asset prices continue to exceed underlying fundamentals and leverage levels remain high, especially by hedge funds.
April 25 -
The Long Island-based regional bank, which reported another quarterly loss Friday, continues to hire in the commercial-and-industrial lending sphere as it seeks to diversify its commercial real estate-heavy business.
April 25 -
The lender's parent also said it is actively in preparation to move forward on plans to unlock equity value in 2025, with a Newrez spinoff among its options.
April 25 -
Doug Duncan may be retired from Fannie Mae, but not from the housing market—his new firm is ramping up with writing, speaking, and advisory work.
April 25 -
The way mortgage firms address distressed military borrowers will become less regimented as the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program gets phased out.
April 25 -
The trend is not the norm but there are growing opportunities to buy for less in some areas many people gravitate to, real-estate brokerage Redfin found.
April 24