Accredited Home Seeks Debt Waivers, Capital; Margin Calls Deplete Funds

  Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., a U.S. lender to people with poor credit, said it will seek debt waivers and try to raise new funds after creditors asked for more money to cover the risk of defaults.

  By Philip Lagerkranser

  March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., a U.S. lender to people with poor credit, said it will seek debt waivers and try to raise new funds after creditors asked for more money to cover the risk of defaults.

  The company will cut jobs to reduce costs and may delay filing its annual report, it said in a statement distributed by Business Wire. San Diego-based Accredited has paid about $190 million in margin calls this year, with two-thirds of that since Feb. 15, according to the release.

  A housing slump in the U.S. has pushed to a seven-year high defaults on loans to consumers with patchy credit histories, forcing more than two dozen lenders to close or sell operations. New Century Financial Corp., the nation's second-biggest subprime mortgage lender, yesterday said it doesn't have enough cash to pay creditors who are demanding their money.

  ``The secondary market for subprime loans and mortgage securities backed by subprime loans has become less liquid, and that's a concern that probably a lot of people haven't yet seen,'' said Daniel Tabbush, an analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets in Bangkok. ``This will have a knock-on impact on the economy.''

  Shares of Accredited Home fell 28 percent yesterday, dropping the company's market value to $288 million. The stock has plunged 58 percent this year as the industry crisis deepened. Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. and Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc. are among companies that have failed in the past six months.

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