Generation Buys Another Reverse Lender

Generation Mortgage Co., an Atlanta-based reverse mortgage lender, has acquired Amston Mortgage Co., another reverse mortgage lender based in Moodus, Conn.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. For fiscal year 2006, Amston was the 16th-largest originator of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, with 518, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Amston is licensed in 15 states and has plans to add more. Besides originating HECMs, Generation has its own proprietary jumbo product, Generation Plus. The company was founded in 2006 and has both retail and wholesale production channels. "This acquisition, combined with many other significant additions to our capabilities, poises Generation Mortgage to become recognized among the top tier of the reverse mortgage industry," said Jeff Lewis, chairman of Generation Mortgage and a senior managing director at Guggenheim Partners LLC, Generation's controlling shareholder. Generation recently acquired California Reverse Mortgage Co., Sacramento, the 21st-largest HECM lender in fiscal 2006, originating 442 of these loans. On a pro forma basis, Amston and California Reverse totaled 1,060 HECM originations in that year, which would rank them seventh overall.