John Daurio, founder, chairman and CEO of Kondaur Capital, resigned from the nonperforming loan investor effective Monday with his second in command, John Kontoulis named as his replacement.
No reason was given for Daurio’s departure nor were any details provided.
After National Mortgage News broke the news that Daurio was leaving, the company issued a statement saying it has formed an “office of the chairman” that will be headed by Kontoulis and another company office Greg Gault.
The privately held Kondaur said the two men “will lead the company's efforts in the whole loan mortgage arena. Kontoulis serves as President and Gault as Executive Vice President of Kondaur.”
The firm described the maneuvers as a “corporate reorganization,” and thanked Daurio for his service to Kondaur.
Kondaur is believed to be one of the largest U.S. investors in NPLs, a market in which little public information is available because both the megabanks that sell nonperformers and the hedge funds that buy them are loathe to publicize any details about their transactions.
Over the past three years at least $1 trillion worth of home mortgages - including prime and subprime loans - have been declared delinquent, causing a national crisis, but also buying opportunities for vulture funds.
Earlier this year Kondaur slashed its loan workout staff by almost 40%. In past statements Kondaur boasted that it is the nation's "largest and most frequent purchaser of non-performing loans secured by one-to-four family residences, often paying the highest prices on a loan-by-loan basis."
However, executives who manage other NPL investing firms say Kondaur's returns have been hurt by the fact that it frequently pays too much for product, resulting in lower profit margins.
Kondaur's backers and partners in NPL investing include such private investing firms as The Carlyle Group, and Tourmalet Advisors.
It recently agreed to buy roughly 1,000 distressed loans from the Federal Housing Administration.
