Athas Capital Group, a player in the secondary market, announced last week that it will be winding down business, effective immediately.
The decision to shutter the company's doors after 14 years of business was in anticipation that the market will "deteriorate even further," executives at the California-based non-QM lender said in a joint statement.
"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.
"Our outlook for the secondary market for non-prime mortgages is that volatility will continue, liquidity will become increasingly scarce- or worse yet- unavailable for a period of time, and that loan sale premiums will be below most companies' cost to produce," he added.
By exiting the market now, the lender can "unwind business in an orderly fashion," added Brian O'Shaughnessy, co-chief executive officer at Athas.
Athas will prioritize that all of its warehouse partners are paid in full and "doing right" by its employees "who are like family."
The lender will honor any loans in its pipeline that it is legally obliged to fund, and will comply with all state and federal WARN notice requirements, the company announced last week.
Athas Capital Group was founded in 2008 and since its inception has funded over 14,000 loans surpassing $5.5 billion. In a little over a decade, Athas and its affiliates have procured over $475 million worth of revolving lines of credit from 13 different banks, according to a statement published by the company.
"We would like to thank all of our brokers, borrowers, vendors, loan servicers, trading partners, investors, lenders, and all the people who ever worked for Athas," added Kevin O'Shaughnessy, chief operating officer at the lender.
Athas joins a mounting list of mortgage lenders and service providers that are either rapidly downsizing or shuttering their doors in reaction to the volatility in the market.
