Investor Tommy Lee Re-enters Mortgage Biz

Tommy Lee, the Boston-based investor who made a killing by selling HomeSide Lending, Jacksonville, Fla., is back in the mortgage business.Mr. Lee's TH Lee Putnam Ventures announced Oct. 15 that his private equity firm has made a "significant" investment in ResMAE, Brea, Calif., an upstart nonconforming lender founded by three former Long Beach Mortgage executives: Jack Mayesh, Ed Resendez, and Bill Komperda. (ResMAE stands for Residential Mortgage Assistance Enterprise.) So far, though, TH Lee isn't saying how much money it is putting into the new company. The investment comes at a curious time for mortgage lenders -- rates are on the rise and originations are slowing significantly, though many subprime executives think their volumes will not suffer as much as their conventional brethren's. With Lee's money, ResMAE could expand into a major competitor to Long Beach, which is now owned by Washington Mutual of Seattle. Mr. Lee's company also made a ton of money in the mid-1990s by purchasing a large stake in soft drink maker Snapple, watching those shares rise significantly and then selling before the price came back down to earth. (See the Oct. 20 issue of National Mortgage News for full details.)