Abode shuts down mortgage business

| Monday, 30 November 2009

Abode Mortgage Corporation is shutting down business after the prospective sale of the company by a private investment firm fell through.

"Management and the staff of AMC are devastated by the decision to cease operations," said Abode CEO Mike Linehan in a statement. "However, without a committed mortgage funding and whole loan sale partner, the business of AMC is not viable. We wish to thank our loyal industry partners and deeply regret our inability to carry on in business."

With the sale of the company no longer going forward, the interim funding and mortgage loan purchase agreements referred to in the previous press release from Abode have been terminated.

Abode Mortgage Corporation, a subsidiary of Abode Mortgage Holdings, launched in February 2007. The company specialized in high ratio prime residential mortgages and placed seventh overall in CMP's brokers on lenders survey earlier this year (it placed first for BDM support).

When commenting on the brokers on lenders score, senior vice-president Joe DiGiambattista said Abode was focusing on "removing roadblocks" for mortgage professionals so that the lender was easier to do business with.

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Mortgage Agent	Carol Bell \| 01/12/2009

What happens to existing funded mortgages? Mortgage agents are understandably losing faith in placing deals with new lenders. It ultimately reflects poorly on all concerned.
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Abode is shutting down	Marcy Berg \| 01/12/2009

Sorry to see this. Joe and his team are top notch and will be missed.
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About Funded Deals	Another Mortgage Agent \| 01/12/2009

Carol, I would imagine that they will contract out servicing to someone like MCAP or First National. In the meantime probably look for buyers of their current funded portfolio. Who know, maybe CMHC will buy it from them! If you have current clients in an Abode mortgage you should probably advise them that Abode will either call loans and/or definitly NOT renew at maturity. Same thing happened when other lenders exited the market in previous years.
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bad for lenders	doug \| 01/12/2009

really gives these new small lenders a bad name....jumping in and out of the market like that, brokers are leary or should be....they wont renew the mortgage, and the broker looks kinda dumb.....
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Who's Next??	Dan P \| 01/12/2009

Too bad about Abode; nice people! With major urban centres across Canada once again reporting record breaking sales volumes, is it conceivable that financial backers might not be relishing the idea of getting back into another over-inflated real estate valuation position? They might be recalling the spectre of the still fresh-in-our-minds U.S. fiasco. I wonder how many other capital lender(s) out there are taking stock and deciding just how far they are now willing to go in this quickly rising market.
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Adobe Mortgage	Vans T. LeBlanc \| 01/12/2009

Abode Mortgage Corporation, ...... placed seventh overall in CMP's brokers on lenders survey earlier this year (it placed first for BDM support).
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On Adobe's Awards	Vans T. LeBlanc, MA, BBA, AMP \| 01/12/2009

Abode Mortgage Corporation.... placed seventh overall in CMP's brokers on lenders survey earlier this year (it placed first for BDM support). It is important when bestowing performance awards in ANY business that institutions and individuals consider longevity of service for a minimum period of time. Awards should indicate a level of performance over a SET period of time ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. It is always easy for a newcomer to shatter all records at the introductory stage, usually because of novelties and aggressive incentives. This does not always guarantee spectacular performance over an extended period.
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Major Lenders have a stanglehold on the Mortgage business	Frank Armstrong \| 01/12/2009

It is truly a shame to see newer Lenders like this not be able to survive. It is however a reflection on the business that everyone should take note of. The major mortgage lenders in Canada are taking more and more of a stranglehold on the mortgage origination business and newer, smaller lenders do not have much of a competitive advantage these days........not sure if this is a good thing for anyone, especialy consumers over the long term.
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Not Paying Brokers/Agents	Tom \| 01/12/2009

It appears that out company has several deals into Abode where are agents commissions are now in "limbo".
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RE: On Abode's Awards	Editor, CMP \| 02/12/2009

Vans, It's true that Abode placed high in some categories on the brokers on lenders survey, but it's important to note that the entire premise of the survey is based on a popular vote from the broker community, which is indicative of the service they receive from said lender. Not financials. If it was a financials survey you would see the Big Five on there - broker friendly or not. Besides, this news doesn't change the fact that Abode had strong BDMs when we did the survey five months ago.
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ABODE and unpaid finder's fees	J Broker \| 31/12/2009

Does anybody know about ABODE anymore? What about brokers not getting their finder’s fee paid, bonuses, finder’s fees cheques bounced? We gave business to ABODE because of the BDMs and they are as well in the hook. When I call them they do not know anything. Any suggestions on how to proceed as I am one of the victims for about 10K.
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Fees etc	M Broker \| 04/03/2010

is there any truth to a new buyer for Abode? Is there a possibility that commissions not paid to brokers will happen if a new buyer is found? Does anyone know anything in regards to unpaid commissions.
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