Eman

A Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporation investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their income, which may be taxable in the hands of the investors. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks.

Like other corporations, REITs can be publicly or privately held. Public REITs may be listed on public stock exchanges like shares of common stock in other firms. REITs can be classified as equity, mortgage or hybrid.

American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation was the 10th largest retail mortgage lender in the United States and it was structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company stated that it was focused on earning net interest income from self-originated loans and mortgage-backed securities, and through its taxable subsidiaries, from originating and servicing mortgage loans for institutional investors.

Mortgages were originated through the company’s employees as well as through mortgage brokers and purchased from correspondent lenders and were serviced at the company’s servicing center in Irving, Texas.