Close to $1 billion in nonperforming residential loans were acquired from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at a significant discount.
The assets were formerly owned by AmTrust Bank, which was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision in December 2009 and handed over to the FDIC as receiver. While $9 billion of the former Cleveland-based bank’s assets were acquired by New York Community Bank — the FDIC was left holding $3 billion of the assets.
Today, the FDIC reported that it sold $898 million in mostly non-performing AmTrust residential loans at a price of approximately 37 percent of unpaid principal balance. Roughly 96 percent of the loans are delinquent, and more than a third are secured by Florida properties.
In all, five bids were received by the FDIC.
The winning bidders were a consortium of three investors including Residential Credit Solutions Inc., CarVal Investors and RBS Financial Products Inc. Residential Credit is the managing member of the LLC’s managing equity owner.
In order to make the deal work, the FDIC created a limited liability company — Amtrust 2010 NP-SFR — as a structured transaction. The investors acquired 40 percent of the company, while the FDIC retained a 60 percent stake and agreed to guaranty purchase-money notes issued by the LLC for around $170 million.
While the FDIC will participate in potential profits from the LLC, it still is on the hook for a $6 billion loss-sharing agreement with New York Community Bank.
Loan modification guidelines from the Home Affordable Modification Program will be utilized on eligible loans.
The sale announced today “completes the sale of the majority of the remaining assets of AmTrust Bank.”
