Subprime lender Accredited consolidates operations

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accredited Home Lenders, a subprime residential lender trying to recover from the U.S. mortgage crisis, this week consolidated operations centers to its San Diego headquarters, sources said on Thursday.

The company fired workers and closed offices in Orange, California, Beaverton, Oregon, St. Petersburg, Florida, and Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, one source said. Accredited was purchased by private equity firm Lone Star Funds in October.

"I can confirm that today Accredited Home Lenders Inc. informed our employees of a restructure of our work force," Ed Trissel, an Accredited spokesman, said in an e-mail. "The restructure was done in order to maintain Accredited's financial position in the marketplace and improve the company's long-term prospects by realizing efficiencies."

Accredited, one of many aggressive lenders whose risky practices led to surging loan defaults and the global credit crunch, resumed lending in November after a two-month hiatus. The company, which made as much as $2 billion in loans a month during the housing boom, originated about $50 million of mortgages in January, an executive said in February.

The consolidation comes about a week after a unit and affiliate of Accredited's owner, Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, bought assets of Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp., the below-prime wholesale and correspondent lender of storied Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. Bear Stearns was purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. last week.

(Reporting by Al Yoon; Editing by Dan Grebler)