 | |
| Company type | S Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Subprime Mortgage Lending and Alt-A Mortgage Lending |
| Founded | Marietta, Georgia, 2001 |
| Defunct | January 30, 2007 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia (original headquarters) Marietta, Georgia (2nd headquarters) |
Key people | Tamara L. Burch, co-founder, President and CEO DeeAnn R. Myers, co-founder, Vice-President and COO |
American Freedom Mortgage, Inc. (AFM) was a private S Corporation incorporated on February 2, 2001, according to the Georgia Secretary of State, and headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. AFM conducted business as a multi-state direct-to-consumer correspondent lender and mortgage broker specializing in the origination of subprime and Alt-A mortgage loans. AFM also operated a wholesale mortgage lending division that originated loans via approved mortgage brokers and which used the fictitious name AFMI Funding. As a correspondent lender, AFM sold the mortgage loans on the open market to larger investors.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, AFM originated loans for a fee, then sold them to investors such as HSBC Mortgage Services, Inc. and mortgage-finance company Countrywide Financial Corporation.[1]
The CEO of AFM was Tamara Burch and the COO was DeeAnn Myers. Prior to co-founding AFM, both Burch and Myers were loan originators with St. Louis, Missouri-based American Equity Mortgage, Inc., a leading subprime mortgage lender.[2]
On January 30, 2007, AFM and Burch both filed voluntary "no asset" Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia.[3] Both the AFM and Burch bankruptcy cases were subsequently converted to "asset" cases by the Bankruptcy Trustee after assets for distribution to unsecured creditors were discovered.[3] The AFM bankruptcy case was assigned Case No. 07-61304-jem.
- ^ Mollenkamp, Carrick; James R. Hagerty; Randall Smith (2007-03-13). "Banks Go on Subprime Offensive". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
- ^ "American Equity Mortgage acquires Integrity Mortgage", St. Louis Business Journal, 2004-06-02. Accessed 2007-08-12
- ^ a b Rauch, Joe (2007-02-19). "Ad bill forces mortgage lender out of business". Atlanta Business Journal. Retrieved 2007-08-12.