American Bank Expands Mortgage Division

It is no surprise that the mortgage market is experiencing some cooling, but at a time when some mortgage companies are downsizing, American Bank has just doubled their size.

In an effort to ramp up its retail mortgage business, American Bank acquired United Federal Mortgage and doubled their mortgage division. The transaction cost the company an undisclosed amount and was finalized in June; United Federal will continue doing business under that name for the time being. United Federal now has about $300 million in mortgage business and employs 110 people in 10 offices across the nation.

The move will push American Bank into the retail mortgage market and will explore avenues other than commercial banking, which is the initial venture of the bank. Over the last three years, American Bank has acquired a leasing service in North Carolina, an insurance company in Texas and a smaller lender with multiple offices. The insurance company will provide companies with insurance financing in response to their commercial mortgages, a service that has been based in the Washington, DC area. A business plan by United Federal Mortgage, a division of United Federal Bank, enticed American Bank to the acquisition; no reason was cited for selling the business.