Paladin Strategic Partners, LLC Acquires a Controlling Interest in the HomeSaver Mortgage Management, LLC

New socially responsible Emerging Manager joins with existing asset management company to expand HomeSaver's non-performing residential mortgage acquisition, management and remediation business, focused on aggressive mortgage modification.

• Press Release
• Source: Paladin Strategic Partners, LLC
• On 1:03 pm EST, Monday November 9, 2009

NEW YORK, Nov. 9,/PRNewswire/ --Paladin Strategic Partners ("Paladin") announced today the acquisition of a controlling interest in HomeSaver Mortgage Management, LLC ("HomeSaver"). HomeSaver (formerly ARC/Westwood HomeSaver Management, LLC) is an asset management company formed to utilize private capital in acquiring bank-owned portfolios of troubled mortgage assets and implement modification and remediation strategies the lenders and government have been thus far unable to effectuate.

HomeSaver and its partners believe that the number of borrowers facing foreclosure will increase considerably over the next 12 months. Continuation of present trends mitigates in favor of alternative forms of resolution, consistent with prudential regulation of the banking system (which holds over $2.9 trillion in residential "whole loans"), political realities and social responsibility.

First American CoreLogic, Inc. estimates that over 32% of the 52 million+ U.S. homeowners with mortgages are currently "underwater" relative to home value, and many housing analysts expect that figure to exceed 45% in 2010. According to RealtyTrac, Inc., foreclosure actions in 2009 are expected to exceed 3.4 million, and move higher in 2010 (relative to a normalized rate of 520,000 per annum). Actual repossessions of homes in the U.S. this year are expected to exceed one million, over ten times the rate of a typical year. At the same time, RealtyTrac estimates that over 500,000 such repossessions are being held off the market by foreclosing lenders, for fear of causing additional real estate market disruption.

"Many of the current loan remediation programs are simply not working. HomeSaver is uniquely positioned to step in and work with homeowners during this crisis, as well as with selling banks," said Carl Webb, Managing Partner of Paladin. "HomeSaver employs an aggressive and 'socially responsible' workout approach toward loan remediation. We feel that HomeSaver has demonstrated what the non-bank private sector, unburdened by legacy assets, can do to achieve ultimate resolution of the residential mortgage nightmare," Webb added.

Len Blum, a Managing Partner of Westwood Capital Holdings, noted "recent stabilization in home prices is not likely to be sufficient to reverse the ballooning numbers of foreclosures and underwater mortgages. Nor is it reasonable to expect that residential real estate values will be restored to those of the bubble-era, for the foreseeable future. Consequently, strategies that emphasize eventual loan principal reduction, such as those employed by HomeSaver, are the only realistic alternatives."

"The banks that are most exposed to the risks posed by legacy loans are signaling their understanding of the predicament they are in, by amassing record levels of balance sheet liquidity, and conserving capital, in preparation for increased loan disposal losses and provisioning," Blum added.

About Paladin Strategic Partners, LLC

Paladin Strategic Partners, LLC ("Paladin") is a vertically integrated investment management firm that is engaged in managing distressed and non-distressed assets and providing structured finance advisory services. Paladin is a socially-responsible, emerging manager founded in 2009 to participate in distressed investment opportunities.

About Westwood Capital Holdings, LLC

Westwood Capital Holdings, LLC is the parent of Westwood Capital, LLC, an investment bank that focuses on several areas of the financial services spectrum, including securitization and corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, financial advisory services, project development finance and real estate advisory services, restructuring advisory services, and litigation support. Westwood serves clients in many areas, particularly in the United States, the Far East, the Middle East and Europe. Westwood was founded in 1995 and is based in New York City.

About HomeSaver Mortgage Management, LLC

HomeSaver is a socially responsible financial asset manager that was created to provide private capital with the opportunity to profit from dislocations in the residential mortgage market by focusing on loan remediation, modification and refinancing. HomeSaver acquires and restructures non-performing residential mortgages throughout the United States.

    Paladin Strategic Partners, LLC
    Jason Barrett - 917-267-4547
    jason.barrett@paladinsp.com

    HomeSaver Mortgage Management, LLC
    Michael Mattera - 212-867-2213
    mmattera@westwoodhsm.com

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