American Mortgage Express Financial Announces Promotion of John Hoie to Post of Chief Operating Officer.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2003

American Mortgage Express Financial, a mortgage banker based in San Diego, has announced the promotion of John Hoie to the post of chief operating officer, according to AME President and CEO Judy Dunham. Hoie was AME's senior vice president of production.

Hoie, a 23-year veteran of the mortgage banking industry, was formerly senior vice president of secondary marketing with Matrix Financial in Phoenix. Prior to his employment with Matrix, he was president of the mortgage banking division of Valley National Bank of Arizona handling nearly $5 billion in loans annually. At the beginning of his career in 1980, he worked with the mortgage banking division for Commercial Federal in Omaha, Neb. He later moved on to manage secondary marketing for AmeriFirst Mortgage in Miami and then became a vice president of wholesale production at Norwest. Hoie has an MBA from the University of Nebraska.

Hoie's promotion is the most recent in a series of steps which are part of a major reorganization and expansion of American Mortgage Express, Dunham announced. AME is on track to break $2 billion in loan volume in 2003 and is projected to increase to $3 billion in 2004. Next year also marks the 20th anniversary of AME, founded by Dunham in 1984. AME has shown consistent growth over the past two decades. The most explosive production period has been in the past three years where AME climbed from $308 million in 1999 to $1.3 billion in 2002.

The primary reason for the positive forecast for 2004, Dunham added, is the addition of AME's newly formed wholesale division with five new offices across the country. At the helm of the wholesale division, as senior vice president of wholesale lending, is Brannon Ogburn, with over 10 years of experience in mortgage lending.

The Retail Division is also accelerating its growth with the addition of five new offices scheduled to open between now and the first of the year with four new offices in San Diego County and another in Anthem, Ariz.

American Mortgage Express is licensed to operate in 17 states, with 10 offices in California, five offices in Arizona, three offices in Hawaii, and one each in South Dakota, Texas, and Missouri. AME has four Affiliate Divisions, Teamwork Mortgage with headquarters in Encinitas, Calif.; Millennium Funding with corporate offices in Vancouver, Wash.; Union Affiliates based in San Diego; and Pacific Capital Mortgage with headquarters in Del Mar, Calif. AME is also the mortgage banking arm for several credit unions.