National Mortgage News
Irvine, CA
Kondaur Capital Corp. here - an investor in nonperforming mortgages - expects its work force to triple to 900 workers by yearend.
In an interview last week, company chairman and CEO Jon Daurio described Kondaur's business of buying and selling troubled loans "as very good right now. We're definitely in a growth mode."
Indeed, rumors abound that Kondaur is quite active in the market but Mr. Daurio declined to comment on specific deals except to say that his company currently holds about 2,500 loans on its books. "We're buying and liquidating loans every month," he said.
Kondaur is presently working on six deals. (Mr. Daurio also declined to say which banks and lenders Kondaur is purchasing product from. However, Citigroup's name has surfaced on more than one occasion.)
A majority of the mortgages Kondaur owns are backed by homes in California and Florida. The company services the loans itself on a platform using software provided by FICS.
Each of the company's asset managers handle between 25 and 30 loans. "At some shops asset managers handle up to 100 loans," he said.
Kondaur's goal is to "reperform" and modify the loans. But in reality, the company takes a deed-in-lieu or forecloses. It then sells the underlying home.
During his career, Mr. Daurio has worked at such subprime shops as Long Beach Bank and Encore Credit. He is a majority owner in Kondaur with a couple of hedge funds as partners.