Amresco Revises Purchase Deal for Quality Mortgage

A Dallas real estate services company said Thursday that it has altered its deal to buy Quality Mortgage USA Inc. in Irvine, purchasing instead most of the assets for a reduced price of $65 million in cash.

Under a tentative agreement last month, Amresco Inc. was going to acquire Quality Mortgage and one of its half-owners, Calmac Funding Inc., for $92 million in stock. Quality Mortgage is a unit of Calmac and DLJ Mortgage Capital Inc.

But, in reviewing the mortgage lender’s records, Amresco decided it did not want certain non-operating assets, and is leaving them for Calmac to liquidate. Executives at Quality Mortgage were unavailable for comment.

Quality Mortgage, which employs more than 500 people in 56 offices throughout 34 states, makes so-called sub-prime home loans to borrowers who don’t qualify for conventional loans. Thomas Andrus, Amresco’s treasurer, said the company will continue that operation and hire more employees immediately to start expanding.

Calmac is owned by Russell M. Jedinak, the former owner of failed Guardian Savings & Loan in Huntington Beach, and his wife, Rebecca M. Jedinak, Guardian’s second in command. Last year, the Jedinaks turned over $8.5 million to federal thrift regulators to settle claims stemming from the S&L;’s 1991 collapse.