Trading in American Home Halted

The New York Stock Exchange halted trading in the stock of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., Melville, N.Y., on Monday after the company revealed that it was the subject of "significant margin calls" from its warehouse lenders.As of MortgageWire's deadline, the company's spokeswoman had not returned telephone calls about the matter. According to the Quarterly Data Report, AHM is the nation's 10th-largest funder of home mortgages, and eighth-largest wholesaler. Late Friday the publicly traded REIT said its board had decided to delay its dividend payment. In a statement, it also revealed that it had suffered "major writedowns" on its loan and securities portfolios that in turn had caused margin calls "with respect to its credit facilities." A month ago, hedge funds managed by Marathon Asset Management LLC purchased $125 million worth of preferred securities in AHM. The mortgage REIT can be found online at http://www.americanhm.com.