American Home Preservation (AHP), a company that purchases distressed mortgages and then enables smaller investors to invest in the assets, has appointed a new CEO as long time founder Jorge Newbery become Chairman of the firm. AHP has hired DeAnn O’Donovan, a former executive with Wintrust, to take over the crowdfunding platform.
O’Donovan recently departed her position as executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Wintrust Mortgage. O’Donovan has 25 years of experience in real estate and mortgage lending. According to an interview in Crains, O’Donovan was attracted to AHP because it is profitable and because of its mission to help people stay in their homes by modifying the mortgages.
AHP buys distressed mortgage loans in low-income neighborhoods from lenders looking to shed debt that might ultimately lead to foreclosure expenses banks would rather not shoulder. To avoid those additional costs, banks are willing to sell the loans at a deep discount, enabling AHP to share its savings with the homeowner in a modified loan.
Founded by Newbery in 2007, AHP was previously a non-profit. Following the Great Recession, AHP revamped as a for profit business that was perfectly positioned to help restructure loans that banks were unable to manage. Today, AHP has 20 employees and booked $5.4 million in revenue during 2017. To date, AHP purchased $26.4 million for 2,553 mortgages totaling $139.2 million in debt. Investors may participate on AHP for just $100.