IMPAC MORTGAGE HOLDINGS INC - Annual Report: 2005 (Form 10-K)

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005 or

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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                    to                   .

Commission File Number: 1-14100

IMPAC MORTGAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1401 Dove Street, Newport Beach, California 92660
(Address of principal executive offices)
(949) 475-3600
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Yes o No ý

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes o No ý

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non accelerated filer. See definition of "accelerated filer and large accelerated filer" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ý    Accelerated filer o    Non-accelerated filer o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2) Yes o No ý

As of June 30, 2005, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $1.4 billion, based on the closing sales price of common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on that date. For purposes of the calculation only, all directors and executive officers of the registrant have been deemed affiliates. There were 76,112,963 shares of common stock outstanding as of March 1, 2006.

Portions of information required by Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III, are incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement for the Company's 2006 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, except for the Stock Performance Graph, Report of the Compensation Committee on Executive Compensation, and Report of the Audit Committee. The Company's Proxy Statement will be filed with the Commission within 120 days after the year ended December 31, 2005.

IMPAC MORTGAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
2005 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

           Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms "Company," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. ("IMH"), a Maryland corporation incorporated in August 1995, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, IMH Assets Corp., or "IMH Assets," Impac Warehouse Lending Group, Inc., or "IWLG," Impac Multifamily Capital Corporation, or "IMCC," and Impac Funding Corporation, or "IFC," together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Impac Secured Assets Corp., or "ISAC," and Novelle Financial Services, Inc., or "Novelle."

Forward-Looking Statements

           This report on Form 10-K contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements, some of which are based on various assumptions and events that are beyond our control, may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "likely," "should," "anticipate," or similar terms or variations on those terms or the negative of those terms. The forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations. Actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including, but not limited to, failure to achieve projected earnings levels; unexpected increases in credit and bond spreads; the ability to generate sufficient liquidity; the ability to access the equity markets; increased operating expenses and mortgage origination or purchase expenses that reduce current liquidity position more than anticipated; continued increase in price competition; risks of delays in raising, or the inability to raise, additional capital, either through equity offerings, lines of credit or otherwise; the ability to generate taxable income and to pay dividends; interest rate fluctuations on our assets that differ from those on our liabilities; unanticipated interest rate fluctuations; changes in expectations of future interest rates; unexpected increase in prepayment rates on our mortgages; changes in assumption regarding estimated loan losses or an increase in loan losses; continued ability to access the securitization markets or other funding sources, the availability of financing and, if available, the terms of any financing; changes in markets which the Company serves, such as mortgage refinancing activity and housing price appreciation; and other general market and economic conditions. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Item 1A "Risk Factors" and Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in this report. We do not undertake, and specifically disclaim any obligation, to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

Available Information

           Our Internet website address is www.impaccompanies.com. We make available our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and proxy statement for our annual stockholders' meetings, as well as any amendments to those reports, free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or "SEC." You can learn more about us by reviewing our SEC filings on our website by clicking on "Stockholder Relations" located on our home page and proceeding to "Financial Reports." We also make available on our website, under "Corporate Governance," charters for the audit, compensation, and governance and nominating committees of our board of directors, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, our Corporate Governance Guidelines and other company information, including amendments to such documents and waivers, if any to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. These documents will also be furnished, free of charge, upon written request to Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc., Attention: Stockholder Relations, 1401 Dove Street, Newport Beach, California 92660. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding SEC registrants, including the Company.

General Overview

           We are a mortgage real estate investment trust, or "REIT," that is a nationwide acquirer, originator, seller and investor of non-conforming Alt-A mortgages, or "Alt-A mortgages," and to a lesser extent, small-balance multi-family mortgages, or "multi-family mortgages", and sub-prime, or "B/C mortgages." We also provide repurchase financing to originators of mortgages.

           We operate three core businesses:

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the long-term investment operations that are conducted by IMH, IMH Assets and IMCC;



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the mortgage operations that are conducted by IFC, ISAC; and



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the warehouse lending operations that are conducted by IWLG.

           The long-term investment operations primarily retain for investment adjustable rate and fixed rate Alt-A mortgages that are acquired and originated by our mortgage operations. Alt-A mortgages are primarily first lien mortgages made to borrowers whose credit is generally within typical Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, but have loan characteristics that make them non-conforming under those guidelines. Some of the principal differences between mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Alt-A mortgages are as follows:

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credit and income histories of the mortgagor;



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documentation required for approval of the mortgagor;



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loan balances in excess of maximum Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending limits; and.



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applicable loan to value ratios.

           For instance, Alt-A mortgages may have higher loan-to-value, or "LTV," ratios than allowable under Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines. Furthermore, Alt-A mortgages may not have certain documentation or verifications that are required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and, therefore, in making our credit decisions, we are more reliant upon the borrower's credit score and the adequacy of the underlying collateral. We believe that Alt-A mortgages provide an attractive net earnings profile by producing higher yields without commensurately higher credit losses than other types of mortgages.

           The long-term investment operations also originate and invest in multi-family mortgages, and recently, commercial mortgages, that are primarily adjustable rate mortgages with initial fixed interest rate periods of two-, three-, five-, seven- and ten-years that subsequently adjust to adjustable rate mortgages, or "hybrid ARMs," with balances that generally range from $500,000 to $5.0 million. Multi-family mortgages have interest rate floors, which is the initial start rate, and prepayment penalty periods of three-, five-, seven- and ten-years. Multi-family mortgages provide greater asset diversification on our balance sheet as borrowers of multi-family mortgages typically have higher credit scores and multi-family mortgages typically have lower loan-to-value ratios, or "LTV ratios," and longer average lives than Alt-A mortgages. On January 1, 2006, we elected to convert IMCC from a qualified REIT subsidiary to a taxable REIT subsidiary. We have also changed the name of IMCC to Impac Commercial Capital Corporation ("ICCC"). Beginning in 2006, we are expanding our multi-family lending operations, ICCC, to include commercial loan products. The loan portfolio remains as part of the REIT assets while the commercial origination operations, ICCC, will be subject to state and federal income taxes beginning in 2006.

           The long-term investment operations generate earnings primarily from net interest income earned on mortgages held for long-term investment, or "long-term mortgage portfolio." The long-term mortgage portfolio as reported on our consolidated balance sheets consist of mortgages held as collateralized mortgage obligations, or "CMO," and mortgages held-for-investment. Investments in Alt-A mortgages and multi-family and commercial mortgages are initially financed with short-term borrowings under reverse repurchase agreements, which are subsequently converted to long-term financing in the form of CMO financing. Cash flows from the long-term mortgage portfolio and proceeds from the sale of securities also finance new Alt-A and multi-family and commercial mortgages.

           The Company securitizes mortgages in the form of CMOs and real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs). The typical CMO securitization is designed so that the transferee (securitization trust) is not a qualifying special purpose entity (QSPE) and thus as the sole residual interest holder, the Company consolidates such variable interest entities (VIEs). Amounts consolidated are classified as CMO collateral and CMO borrowings in the consolidated balance sheets. Generally, the typical REMIC securitization qualifies for sale accounting treatment and the securitization trust is a QSPE and thus not consolidated by the Company. To the extent that our REMIC securitization trusts do not meet the QSPE criteria, consolidation is assessed pursuant to Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Interpretation No. 46 (revised December 2003), "Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities" (FIN 46R).

           In 2005, we completed the ISAC REMIC 2005-2 securitization which was treated as a sale for tax purposes but treated as a secured borrowing for generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) purposes and consolidated in the financial statements. The associated collateral and borrowings have been included in CMO collateral and borrowings, respectively, for

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reporting purposes. Reference to "CMO collateral" or "CMO borrowings" or "CMO" includes the REMIC 2005-2 securitization collateral and/or borrowings, respectively. In January 2006, we combined our Alt-A wholesale and subprime product offerings under one platform. Our subprime products previously marketed under Novelle Financial Services, Inc., are now offered by our Alt-A wholesale operations, Impac Lending Group (ILG), a division of IFC.

           The mortgage operations acquire, originate, sell and securitize primarily adjustable rate and fixed rate Alt-A mortgages and, to a lesser extent, B/C mortgages. The mortgage operations generate income by securitizing and selling mortgages to permanent investors, including the long-term investment operations. This business also earns revenue from fees associated with mortgage servicing rights, master servicing agreements and interest income earned on mortgages held for sale. The mortgage operations use facilities provided by the warehouse lending operations to finance the acquisition and origination of mortgages.

           The warehouse lending operations provide short-term repurchase facilities to mortgage loan originators, including our mortgage operations, by funding mortgages from their closing date until sale to pre-approved investors. This business earns fees from each transaction as well as net interest income from the difference between its cost of borrowings and the interest earned on repurchase advances.

           For financial information relating to the long-term investment operations, mortgage operations and warehouse lending operations, please refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements beginning on page F-1.

Long-Term Investment Operations

           The long-term investment operations retain for investment primarily Alt-A mortgages and, to a lesser extent, multi-family and commercial mortgages and generate revenue primarily from net interest income on its long-term mortgage portfolio. Net interest income represents the difference between income received on mortgages and the corresponding cost of financing. Net interest income also includes (1) amortization of acquisition costs on mortgages acquired from the mortgage operations, (2) amortization of CMO securitization expenses and, to a lesser extent, (3) amortization of CMO bond discounts. Net cash payments or receipts on derivative instruments are included in realized gain (loss) from derivative instruments, which is a component of non-interest income on our financial statements. For additional information regarding the classification of interest income, interest expense and non-interest income items refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Results of Operations and Financial Condition."

           The mortgage operations support the investment objectives of the long-term investment operations by supplying mortgages at prices that are comparable to those available through mortgage bankers and brokers and other third parties. We believe that retaining mortgages acquired and originated by our mortgage operations give us a competitive advantage because of our historical understanding of the underlying credit of these mortgages and the extensive information on the performance and historical prepayment patterns of these types of mortgages. We also believe that Alt-A mortgages provide an attractive net earnings profile by producing higher yields without commensurately higher credit risks than other types of mortgages.

Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio

           Alt-A mortgages that we retain for long-term investment are primarily adjustable rate mortgages, or "ARMs," hybrid ARMs and, to a lesser extent, fixed rate mortgages, or "FRMs." The interest rate on ARMs are typically tied to an index, such as the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate, or "LIBOR," plus a spread and adjust periodically, subject to lifetime interest rate caps and periodic interest rate and payment caps. The initial interest rates on ARMs are typically lower than average comparable FRMs but may be higher than average comparable FRMs over the life of the mortgage. Hybrid ARMs are mortgages with maturity periods ranging from 15 to 30 years with initial fixed interest rate periods generally ranging from two to ten years, which subsequently adjust to ARMs. The majority of mortgages retained by the long-term investment operations have prepayment penalty features with prepayment penalty periods ranging from six months to seven years. Prepayment penalties may be assessed to the borrower if the borrower refinances or, in some cases, sells the home.

           During 2005, the long-term investment operations retained $12.2 billion in principal balance of primarily adjustable rate Alt-A mortgages for long-term investment, which were initially acquired and originated by the mortgage operations. In addition, the long-term investment operations originated $798.5 million of multi-family mortgages. The retention and origination of Alt-A and multi-family mortgages increased the long-term mortgage portfolio to $24.7 billion at year-end.

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           The following table presents selected information on mortgages held as CMO collateral, which comprise a substantial portion of the long-term mortgage portfolio, for the periods indicated:

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           The following table presents mortgages retained by the long-term investment operations by loan characteristic for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):

(1)

Primarily includes mortgages indexed to one-, three- and six-month LIBOR and one-year LIBOR. Also includes minimal amounts of mortgages indexed to the prime lending rate and constant maturity Treasury index.

(2)

Multi-family mortgages are originated by the long term investment operations.

           For additional information regarding the long-term mortgage portfolio refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," "Note C—CMO Collateral," and "Note D—Mortgages Held for Investment" in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Financing

           We primarily finance our long-term mortgage portfolio as follows:

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issuance of CMO borrowings;



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short-term borrowings under reverse repurchase agreements, prior to securitization as CMOs; and



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proceeds from the sale of securities, including trust preferred issuances during 2005.

           As we accumulate mortgages we may issue CMOs secured by such mortgages as a means of financing. The decision to issue CMOs is based on our current and future investment needs, market conditions and other factors. Each issue of CMOs is fully payable from the principal and interest payments on the underlying mortgages securing such debt and any cash or other collateral pledged as a condition of receiving the desired rating on the debt. We earn a net interest spread on interest income on

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mortgages held as CMO collateral less interest and other expenses associated with the acquisition or origination of the loans and with CMO financing. Net interest spreads may be directly impacted by levels of early prepayment of underlying mortgages and, to the extent each CMO class has variable rates of interest, may be affected by changes in short-term interest rates. Our CMOs typically are structured as adjustable rate securities that are indexed to one-month LIBOR and fixed rate securities with interest payable monthly.

           When we issue CMOs for financing purposes, we seek an investment grade rating for our CMOs by nationally recognized rating agencies. To secure such ratings, it is often necessary to incorporate certain structural features that provide for credit enhancement. This can include the pledge of collateral in excess of the principal amount of the securities to be issued, generally referred to as over collateralization, a bond guaranty insurance policy for some or all of the issued securities, or additional forms of mortgage insurance. The need for additional collateral or other credit enhancements depends upon factors such as the type of collateral provided, the interest rates paid, the geographic concentration of the mortgaged property securing the collateral and other criteria established by the rating agencies. The pledge of additional collateral reduces our capacity to raise additional funds through short-term secured borrowings or additional CMOs, and diminishes the potential expansion of our long-term mortgage portfolio. As a result, our objective is to pledge additional collateral for CMOs only in the amount required to obtain an investment grade rating by nationally recognized rating agencies. Our total loss exposure is limited to total capital invested in the CMOs at any point in time.

           For additional information regarding CMOs refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources" and "Note H—CMO Borrowings" in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

           Prior to the issuance of CMOs, we use reverse repurchase agreements as short-term financing. A reverse repurchase agreement acts as a financing vehicle under which we effectively pledge our mortgages as collateral to secure a short-term loan. Generally, the other party to the agreement makes the loan in an amount equal to a percentage of the market value of the pledged collateral. At maturity of the reverse repurchase agreement, we are required to pay interest and repay the loan and in return, we receive our collateral. Our borrowing agreements require us to pledge cash, additional mortgages or additional investment securities backed by mortgages in the event the market value of existing collateral declines. We may be required to sell assets to reduce our borrowings to the extent that cash reserves are insufficient to cover such deficiencies in collateral.

           For additional information regarding reverse repurchase agreements refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources" and "Note G—Reverse Repurchase Agreements" in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Interest Rate Risk Management

           Our primary objective is to manage exposure to the variability in future cash flows attributable to the variability of one-month LIBOR, which is the underlying index of our adjustable rate CMO borrowings. We also monitor on an ongoing basis the prepayment risks that arise in fluctuating interest rate environments. Our interest rate risk management program is formulated with the intent to mitigate the potential adverse effects of changing interest rates on cash flows on adjustable rate CMO borrowings.

           To mitigate our exposure to the effect of changing interest rates on cash flows on our adjustable rate CMO borrowings, we acquire derivatives in the form of interest rate swaps, or "swaps," interest rate cap agreements, or "caps" and interest rate floor agreements, or "floors," collectively, "derivatives." For additional information regarding interest rate risk management activities refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," Item 7A. "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" and "Note O—Derivative Instruments" in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Mortgage Operations

           The mortgage operations acquire, originate, sell and securitize primarily adjustable rate and fixed rate Alt-A mortgages and, to a lesser extent B/C mortgages, from correspondents, mortgage bankers and brokers and retail customers.

           Correspondent Acquisition Channel.    The mortgage operations acquire adjustable rate and fixed rate Alt-A mortgages from its network of third party correspondents on a flow basis (loan-by-loan) or on a bulk basis (pool of multiple loans) from approved correspondent mortgage companies. Correspondents originate and close mortgages under the mortgage operations'

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mortgage programs. Correspondents include savings and loan associations, commercial banks and mortgage bankers. The mortgage operations act as intermediaries between the originators of mortgages that may not meet the guidelines for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and permanent investors in mortgage-backed securities secured by or representing an ownership interest in such mortgages. The mortgage operations also acquire Alt-A mortgages on a bulk basis from approved correspondent sellers that are underwritten to guidelines substantially similar to Alt-A loan programs, but not specific to those of the mortgage operations.

           Wholesale and Retail Origination Channel.    The mortgage operations market, underwrite, process and fund mortgages for wholesale and, to a lesser extent, retail customers. The wholesale origination channel works directly with mortgage bankers and brokers to originate, underwrite and fund their mortgages. Many wholesale customers cannot conduct business with the mortgage operations as correspondents because they do not have the necessary net worth or financing to close mortgages in their name. Through its retail channel, the mortgage operations markets mortgages directly to the public.

           B/C Origination Channel.    The mortgage operations also originate B/C mortgages through a network of wholesale mortgage brokers and sells its mortgages to third party investors for cash gains. In January 2006, the B/C Wholesale and Retail Origination channels were combined under Impac Lending Group, a division of IFC.

Marketing Strategy

           We believe that we can compete effectively with other Alt-A mortgage conduits through our efficient loan purchasing process, flexible purchase commitment options, competitive pricing and by designing Alt-A mortgages that suit the needs of our correspondents, mortgage bankers, brokers and their borrowers. Our principal strategy is to expand our market position as a low-cost nationwide acquirer and originator of Alt-A mortgages, while continuing to emphasize an efficient centralized operating structure. To help accomplish this, we have developed a second-generation web-based automated underwriting and pricing system called Impac Direct Access System for Lending, or "iDASLg2." iDASLg2 substantially increases efficiencies for our customers and our mortgage operations by significantly decreasing the processing time for a mortgage while improving employee productivity and maintaining superior customer service.

           iDASLg2 is an interactive Internet-based system that allows our customers to automatically underwrite mortgages, enabling our customers to pre-qualify borrowers for various mortgage programs and receive automated approval decisions. iDASLg2 is intended to increase efficiencies not only for our customers but also for the mortgage operations by significantly decreasing the processing time for a mortgage. We believe iDASLg2 improves employee production and maintains superior customer service, which together leads to higher closing ratios, improved profit margins and increased profitability at all levels of our business operations. Most importantly, iDASLg2 allows us to move closer to our correspondents and mortgage bankers and brokers with minimal future capital investment while maintaining centralization, a key factor in the success of our operating strategy. All of our correspondents submit mortgages via iDASLg2 and all wholesale mortgages delivered by mortgage bankers and brokers are directly underwritten through iDASLg2. However, mortgages purchased on a bulk basis from approved correspondent sellers that may not be underwritten specifically to our Alt-A mortgage guidelines are not underwritten through iDASLg2.

           We also focus on expansion opportunities to attract correspondent originators, mortgage bankers, and brokers to our nationwide network in order to increase mortgage acquisitions and originations in a controlled manner. This allows us to shift the high fixed costs of interfacing with the homeowner to our correspondents, mortgage bankers and brokers. This marketing strategy is designed to accomplish the following three objectives:

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attract a geographically diverse group of both large and small correspondent originators, mortgage bankers and brokers;



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establish relationships with correspondents, mortgage bankers, and brokers that facilitate their ability to offer a variety of loan products designed by the mortgage operations; and



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purchase mortgages, securitize and sell them in the secondary market, or to the long-term investment operations.

           In order to accomplish our production objectives, we design and offer mortgage products that we believe are attractive to potential Alt-A borrowers and to end-investors in Alt-A mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. We have historically emphasized and continue to emphasize flexibility in our mortgage product mix as part of our strategy to attract and establish long-term relationships with our correspondents and mortgage bankers and brokers. We also maintain relationships with

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numerous investors so that we may develop mortgage products that may be of interest to them as market conditions change. In response to the needs of our correspondents, and as part of our strategy to facilitate the sale of our mortgages through the mortgage operations, our marketing strategy offers efficient response time in the purchase process, direct and frequent contact with our correspondents and mortgage bankers and brokers through a trained sales force and flexible commitment programs. Finally, due to the price sensitivity of most homebuyers, we are competitive in pricing our products in order to attract sufficient numbers of mortgages.

Underwriting

           We have developed comprehensive purchase guidelines for the acquisition and origination of mortgages. Each mortgage underwritten assesses the borrower's credit score and ability to repay the mortgage obligation and the adequacy of the mortgaged property as collateral for the mortgage. Subject to certain exceptions and the type of mortgage product, each purchased mortgage generally conforms to the loan parameters and eligibility requirements specified in our seller/servicer guide with respect to, among other things, loan amount, type of property, compliance, LTV ratio, mortgage insurance, credit history, debt service-to-income ratio, appraisal and loan documentation.

           All mortgages acquired or originated under our loan programs are underwritten either by our employees or by contracted mortgage services companies or delegated sellers. Under all of our underwriting methods, loan documentation requirements for verifying the borrower's income and assets vary according to LTV ratios and other factors. Generally, as the standards for required documentation are lowered, the borrowers' down payment requirements are increased and the required LTV ratios are decreased. The borrower is also required to have a stronger credit history, larger cash reserves and an appraisal of the property that may be validated by an enhanced desk or field review, depending on the loan program. Lending decisions are based on a risk analysis assessment after the review of the entire mortgage file. Each mortgage is individually underwritten with emphasis placed on the overall quality of the mortgage.

Seller Eligibility Requirements

           Mortgages acquired by the mortgage operations are originated by various sellers, including mortgage bankers, savings and loan associations and commercial banks. Sellers are required to meet certain regulatory, financial, insurance and performance requirements established by us before they are eligible to participate in our mortgage purchase programs. Sellers must also submit to periodic reviews to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Our current criteria for seller participation generally includes a minimum tangible net worth requirement of $250,000, approval as a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac seller/servicer in good standing, a Housing and Urban Development, or "HUD," approved mortgagee in good standing or a financial institution that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or "FDIC," or comparable federal or state agency, or that the seller is examined by a federal or state authority.

           In addition, sellers are required to have comprehensive mortgage origination quality control procedures. In connection with its qualification, each seller enters into an agreement that generally provides for recourse by us against the seller in the event of a breach of representations or warranties made by the seller with respect to mortgages sold to us, which includes but is not limited to any fraud or misrepresentation during the mortgage loan origination process or upon early payment default on mortgages.

Mortgage Acquisitions and Originations

           Mortgages acquired and originated by the mortgage operations are adjustable rate and fixed rate Alt-A mortgages. A portion of Alt-A mortgages that are acquired and originated by the mortgage operations exceed the maximum principal balance for a conforming loan purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which was $417,000 as of November 29, 2005, and are referred to as "jumbo loans." We generally do not acquire or originate Alt-A mortgages with principal balances above $2.0 million. Alt-A mortgages generally consist of mortgages that are acquired and originated in accordance with underwriting or product guidelines that differ from those applied by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Alt-A mortgages may involve greater risk as a result of different underwriting and product guidelines. Additionally, a portion of mortgages acquired and originated through the mortgage operations are B/C mortgages, which may entail greater credit risks than Alt-A mortgages. B/C mortgages represented 4% and 3% of total acquisitions and originations during 2005 and 2004, respectively.

           We generally do not originate B/C mortgages with principal balances above $650,000. In general, B/C mortgages are residential mortgages made to borrowers with lower credit ratings than borrowers of Alt-A mortgages. B/C mortgages are normally subject to higher rates of loss and delinquency than Alt-A mortgages acquired and originated by the mortgage

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operations. As a result, B/C mortgages normally bear a higher rate of interest and are typically subject to higher fees than Alt-A mortgages. In general, greater emphasis is placed upon the value of the mortgaged property and, consequently, the quality of appraisals, and less upon the credit history of the borrower in underwriting B/C mortgages than in underwriting Alt-A mortgages. In addition, B/C mortgages are generally subject to lower LTV ratios than Alt-A mortgages.

           Residential mortgages acquired or originated by the mortgage operations are generally secured by first liens and, to a lesser extent, second liens on single-family residential properties with either adjustable rate or fixed rates of interest. FRMs have a constant interest rate over the life of the loan, which is generally 15 or 30 years. The interest rates on ARMs are typically tied to an index, such as six-month LIBOR, plus a spread and adjust periodically, subject to lifetime interest rate caps and periodic interest rate and payment caps. The initial interest rates on ARMs are typically lower than the average comparable FRM but may be higher than average comparable FRMs over the life of the loan. We acquire and originate mortgages with the following most common loan characteristics, although we may purchase mortgages with other interest rate, prepayment and maturity characteristics:

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FRMs that have original terms to maturity ranging from 15 to 30 years with six-month to five-year prepayment penalty periods;



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ARMs that adjust based on one-, three- and six-month LIBOR and one-year LIBOR with terms to maturity ranging from 15 to 30 years with six-month to five-year prepayment penalty periods;



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two-, three-, five- and seven-year hybrid ARMs with terms to maturity ranging from 15 to 30 years that subsequently adjust to one-, three- and six-month LIBOR and one-year LIBOR with six-month to five-year prepayment penalty periods; and



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adjustable rate and fixed rate interest-only mortgages with 5 to 10 year interest-only periods and terms to maturity of 30 years with six-month to five-year prepayment penalty periods.

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           The following table presents the mortgage operations' acquisitions and originations by loan characteristic for the periods indicated (in thousands):

(1)

Primarily includes mortgages indexed to one-, three- and six-month LIBOR and one-year LIBOR. Also includes minimal amounts of mortgages indexed to the prime lending rate and constant maturity Treasury index.

(2)

These mortgages were subsequently sold to third party investors on a whole loan basis.

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           Our mortgage acquisition and origination activities focus on those regions of the country where higher volumes of Alt-A mortgages are originated including California, Florida, New York, Colorado, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Arizona and Nevada. During the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2004, 54% and 61%, respectively, of mortgage acquisitions and originations were secured by properties located in California, and 11% and 8%, respectively, were secured by properties located in Florida.

           Of the $22.3 billion in principal balance of mortgages acquired and originated in 2005, $10.2 billion, or 46%, were acquired from our top ten correspondents. Decision One Mortgage accounted for $2.2 billion, or 10% of mortgages acquired and originated by the mortgage operations in 2005. No other correspondents, banker or broker accounted for more than 10% of the total mortgages acquired and originated by the mortgage operations in 2005.

Securitization and Sales

           After acquiring mortgages from correspondents on a flow or bulk basis and originating mortgages through wholesale and retail channels, the mortgage operations securitize or sell mortgages to permanent investors. The mortgage operations sell much of its ARM acquisitions to the long-term investment operations at prices comparable to prices available from third party investors at the date of sale. When a sufficient volume of FRMs with similar characteristics has been accumulated, generally $100 million to $350 million, the mortgage operations may (1) sell bulk packages, referred to as whole loan sales, to third party investors, (2) securitize mortgages through the issuance of mortgage-backed securities in the form of REMICs, or (3) sell them to the long-term investment operations.

           During 2005, the mortgage operations sold $12.2 billion in principal balance of mortgages to the long-term investment operations, sold $8.1 billion in principal balance of mortgages as whole loan sales and sold $633.9 million in principal balance of mortgages as a REMIC. Generally, the mortgage operations sell all of its mortgage acquisitions and originations to third party investors as servicing released, which means that it does not retain primary mortgage servicing rights. However, the mortgage operations does retain rights as master servicer for its securitizations, see "Master Servicing" below.

           The period of time between when we commit to purchase mortgages and the time we sell or securitize mortgages generally ranges from 15 to 45 days, depending on certain factors, including the length of the purchase commitment period, volume by product type and the securitization process. REMIC securities generally consist of one or more classes of "regular interests" and a single class of "residual interest." The regular interests are tailored to the needs of investors and may be issued in multiple classes with varying maturities, average lives and interest rates. REMICs created by us are structured so that one or more of the classes of securities are rated investment grade by at least one nationally recognized rating agency. The ratings for our REMICs are based upon the perceived credit risk by the applicable rating agency of the underlying mortgages, the structure of the securities and the associated level of credit enhancement. Credit enhancement is designed to provide protection to the security holders in the event of borrower defaults and other losses including those associated with fraud or reductions in the principal balances or interest rates on mortgages as required by law or a bankruptcy court.

Master Servicing

           We retain master servicing rights on substantially all of our Alt-A and multi-family mortgage acquisitions and originations. Our function as master servicer includes collecting loan payments from loan servicers and remitting loan payments, less master servicing fees receivable and other fees, to a trustee or other purchaser for each series of mortgage-backed securities or loans master serviced. In addition, as master servicer, we monitor compliance with our servicing guidelines and are required to perform, or to contract with a third party to perform, all obligations not adequately performed by any loan servicer. We may also be required to advance funds or we may cause our loan servicers to advance funds to cover interest payments not received from borrowers depending on the status of their mortgages. We also earn income or incur expense on principal and interest payments we receive from our borrowers until those payments are remitted to the investors in those mortgages. Master servicing fees are generally 0.03% per annum on the declining principal balances of the loans serviced. At year-end 2005, we master serviced approximately 115,000 mortgages with a principal balance of approximately $28.4 billion.

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           The following table presents the amount of delinquent mortgages, both those sold to third parties and those we own, in our master servicing portfolio for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):

Servicing

           We sell or subcontract all of our servicing obligations to independent third parties pursuant to sub-servicing agreements. We believe that the sale of servicing rights or the selection of third-party sub-servicers is more effective than establishing a servicing department within our mortgage operations. However, part of our responsibility is to continually monitor the performance of servicers or sub-servicers through performance reviews and regular site visits. Depending on our reviews, we may in the future rely on our internal default management group to take an ever more active role to assist servicers or sub-servicers in the servicing of our mortgages. Servicing includes collecting and remitting loan payments, making required advances, accounting for principal and interest, holding escrow or impound funds for payment of taxes and insurance, if applicable, making required inspections of the mortgaged property, contacting delinquent borrowers, and supervising foreclosures and property dispositions in the event of un-remedied defaults in accordance with our guidelines. Servicing fees are charged on the declining principal balances of loans serviced and generally range from 0.25% per annum for FRMs, 0.375% per annum for ARMs, 0.50% per annum for B/C mortgages and 0.75% per annum for properties secured by second liens. To the extent the mortgage operations finance the acquisition of mortgages with facilities provided by the warehouse lending operations, the mortgage operations pledges mortgages and the related servicing rights to the warehouse lending operations as collateral. As a result, the warehouse lending operations have an absolute right to control the servicing of such mortgages, including the right to collect payments on the underlying mortgages, and to foreclose upon the underlying real property in the case of default. Typically, the warehouse lending operations delegate its right to service the mortgages securing the facility to the mortgage operations.

           The following table presents information regarding our mortgage servicing portfolio which includes our mortgages held-for-sale and mortgages held for long-term investment for the periods shown (dollars in millions, except average loan size):

(1)

Includes the sale of mortgages on a servicing released basis, the sale of servicing rights on mortgages owned and scheduled and unscheduled principal repayments.

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Interest Rate Risk Management

           The mortgage operations manage interest rate risk and price volatility on its pipeline of rate-locked mortgage loans, or "mortgage pipeline," during the time it commits to acquire or originate mortgages at a pre-determined rate and the time it sells the mortgage loans. To mitigate interest rate and price volatility risks, the mortgage operations may enter into derivatives. The nature and quantity of derivatives are determined based on various factors, including expected pull-through, price sensitivity, market conditions, and the expected volume of mortgage acquisitions and originations. For additional information regarding interest rate risk management activities refer to Item 7A. "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" and "Note O—Derivative Instruments" in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Warehouse Lending Operations

           The warehouse lending operations provide warehouse lines of credit to affiliated companies and reverse repurchase financing to approved non-affiliated mortgage bankers, or "non-affiliated clients," some of which are correspondents of the mortgage operations, to finance mortgages during the time from the closing of the mortgages to sale or other settlement with pre-approved investors. The warehouse lending operations rely mainly on the sale or liquidation of the mortgages as a source of repayment. Any claim of the warehouse lending operations as a secured lender in a bankruptcy proceeding may be subject to adjustment and delay. Borrowings under these facilities are presented on our balance sheet as finance receivables. Terms of non-affiliated clients' repurchase facilities, including the commitment amount, are determined based upon the financial strength, historical performance and other qualifications of the borrower. As of December 31, 2005, the warehouse lending operations had approved facilities to non-affiliated clients of $691.5 million, of which $350.2 million was outstanding, as compared to $738.7 million and $471.8 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2004.

Regulation

           We establish underwriting guidelines that include provisions for inspections and appraisals, require credit reports on prospective borrowers and determine maximum loan amounts. Our mortgage acquisition and origination activities are subject to, among other laws, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Federal Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, Fair Housing Act, Gramm-Leach, Bliley Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Can Spam Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the regulations promulgated there-under. These laws and regulations, among other things, prohibit discrimination and require the disclosure of certain basic information to mortgagors concerning credit terms and settlement costs, prohibit the payment of kickbacks for the referral of business incident to a real estate settlement service, limit payment for settlement services to the reasonable value of the services rendered and goods furnished, restrict the marketing practices we may use to find customers, require us to safeguard non-public information about our customers and require the maintenance and disclosure of information regarding the disposition of mortgage applications based on race, gender, geographical distribution, price and income level. Our mortgage acquisition and origination activities are also subject to state and local laws and regulations, including state licensing laws, anti-predatory lending laws, and may also be subject to applicable state usury statutes. IFC is an approved Fannie Mae seller/servicer, an approved servicer of Freddie Mac, and an approved Housing and Urban Development "HUD" lender. In addition, IFC is required annually to submit to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD audited financial statements, or the equivalent, according to the financial reporting requirements of each regulatory entity for its sellers/ servicers. IFC's affairs are also subject to examination by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at any time to assure compliance with applicable regulations, policies and procedures.

           On December 15, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the final regulations covering the registration, disclosure, communications, and reporting requirements for for asset-backed securities ("Regulation AB"), which became effective January 1, 2006. The new rules contain several new disclosure requirements, including requirements to provide historical financial data with respect to either previously securitized pools of the same asset class or prior originations and information with respect to the background, experience and roles of the various transaction parties, including those involved in the origination, sale or servicing of the loans in the securitized pool. Moreover, annual assessments of compliance with enhanced servicing criteria by servicers and attestation reports from an independent accounting firm must be obtained with respect to securitized pools of our mortgage loans.

Competition

           In acquiring and originating Alt-A mortgages and issuing securities backed by such loans, we compete with other established mortgage conduit programs, investment banking firms, savings and loan associations, banks, thrift and loan

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associations, finance companies, mortgage bankers and brokers, insurance companies, other lenders and other entities purchasing mortgage assets. As the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates at a measured pace and the number of mortgage refinance opportunities diminish, the mortgage industry may experience a consolidation that may reduce the number of current correspondents and independent mortgage bankers and brokers available to the mortgage operations, reducing our potential customer base and resulting in the mortgage operations acquiring and originating a larger percentage of mortgages from a smaller number of customers. In addition, until a consolidation occurs in the mortgage industry, price competition among competitors can affect the profitability on the sale of mortgage loans or the return on investments as mortgage lenders are willing to cut their profitability margins to maintain current production levels. Changes of this nature could negatively impact our businesses.

           Mortgage-backed securities issued by the mortgage operations and the long-term investment operations face competition from other investment opportunities available to prospective investors. We face competition in our mortgage operations and warehouse lending operations from other financial institutions, including but not limited to banks and investment banks. Our main competitors include Countrywide Home Loans, IndyMac Bancorp, Inc., Greenpoint Financial Corporation, Residential Funding Corporation, Aurora Loan Services, Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation and Bear Stearns and Company, Inc.

           Competition can take place on various levels, including convenience in obtaining a mortgage, service, marketing, origination channels and pricing. We depend primarily on correspondents and independent mortgage bankers and brokers for the acquisition and origination of mortgages. These independent mortgage bankers and brokers deal with multiple lenders for each prospective borrower. We compete with these lenders for the independent bankers and brokers' business on the basis of price, service, loan fees, costs and other factors. Our competitors also seek to establish relationships with such bankers and brokers, who are not obligated by contract or otherwise to do business with us. Many of the institutions with which we compete in our mortgage operations and warehouse lending operations have significantly greater financial resources than we have. However, we can compete effectively with other Alt-A mortgage conduits through our efficient loan purchasing process, flexible purchase commitment options and competitive pricing and by designing Alt-A mortgage programs that suit the needs of our correspondents and their borrowers, which is intended to provide sufficient credit quality to our investors.

           Risk factors, as outlined below, provide additional information related to risks associated with competition in the mortgage banking industry.

Employees

           As of December 31, 2005, we had a total of 989 full-time, part-time, temporary and contract employees. Management believes that relations with its employees are good. We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements.

Revisions in Policies and Strategies

           Our board of directors has approved our investment and operating policies and strategies. Our core operations involve the acquisition and origination of mortgages and their subsequent securitization and sale. We also act as a warehouse lender providing financing facilities to mortgage originators. These operations and their associated policies and strategies, are further described herein. Our board of directors has delegated asset/liability management to the Asset/Liability Committee, or "ALCO," which reports to the board of directors at least quarterly. See a further discussion of ALCO in Item 7. "Management's Discussion of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Item 7A. "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk." Any of our policies, strategies and activities may be modified or waived by our board of directors without stockholder consent. Developments in the market, which affect the policies and strategies mentioned herein or which change our assessment of the market, may cause our board of directors to revise our policies and financing strategies.

           We have elected to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes. We have adopted certain compliance guidelines to ensure we maintain our REIT status which include limitations on the acquisition, holding and sale of certain assets.

           The long-term investment operations primarily invest in Alt-A and multi-family mortgages. The long-term investment operation does not limit the proportion of its assets that may be invested in each type of mortgage.

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           We closely monitor our acquisition and investment in mortgage assets and the sources of our income, including income or expense from interest rate risk management strategies, to ensure at all times that we maintain our qualifications as a REIT. We have developed certain accounting systems and testing procedures to facilitate our ongoing compliance with the REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. No changes in our investment policies, including credit criteria for mortgage asset investments, may be made without the approval of our board of directors.

           We may at times and on terms that our board of directors deems appropriate:

•

Issue senior securities – In 2004, we issued 2,000,000 shares of our 9.375% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share. In 2004 and 2005, we issued an aggregate of 4,300,000 shares and 71,200 shares respectively, of our 9.125% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share;



•

Borrow money – We finance our operations in large part through the issuance of CMOs and short-term borrowings under reverse repurchase agreements;



•

Make loans to other persons – The warehouse lending operations provide financing to affiliated companies and to approved non-affiliated clients, some of which are correspondents of the mortgage operations, to finance mortgages during the time from the closing of the mortgages to their sale or other settlement with pre-approved investors;



•

Engage in the purchase and sale of investments – In connection with the issuance of mortgage-backed securities by our mortgage operations in the form of REMICs, our long-term investment operations may retain senior or subordinated securities on a short- or long-term basis;



•

Repurchase or otherwise reacquire our shares or other securities in the future – During 2003, we did not repurchase any shares of common stock. In February of 2004, the share repurchase program was cancelled by our board of directors. During 2005, we adopted a repurchase plan to repurchase up to 5.0 million shares of our common stock in the open market. As of the date of the filing of this report, we have not repurchased any shares of common stock; and



•

Issue common stock and other securities – During 2005 and 2004, we issued an aggregate of 363,700 shares and 18.4 million shares of common stock, respectively. During 2005, we formed four wholly-owned trust subsidiaries for the purposes of issuing an aggregate of $96.3 million of trust preferred securities.

           We may also offer securities in exchange of property, invest in securities of other issuers for the purpose of exercising control and underwrite the securities of other issuers, although we have not done so in the past three years and have no present intention to do so. Historically, we have and intend to continue to distribute annual reports to our stockholders, including financial statements audited by independent auditors, describing our current business and strategy.

ITEM 1.A. RISK FACTORS

           Some of the following risk factors relate to a discussion of our assets. For additional information on our asset categories refer to Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," "Note B—Mortgages Held-for-Sale," "Note C—CMO Collateral," "Note D—Mortgages Held-for-Investment," and "Note E—Allowance for Loan Losses" and in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Risks Related To Our Businesses

If we are unable to generate sufficient liquidity we may be unable to conduct our operations as planned.

           If we cannot generate sufficient liquidity, we may be unable to continue to grow our operations, grow our asset base, maintain our current interest rate risk management policies and pay dividends. We have traditionally derived our liquidity from the following primary sources:

•

financing facilities provided to us by others to acquire or originate mortgage assets;



•

whole loan sales and securitizations of acquired or originated mortgages;



•

our issuance of equity and debt securities;

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•

excess cash flow from our long-term mortgage portfolio; and



•

earnings from operations.

           We cannot assure you that any of these alternatives will be available to us, or if available, that we will be able to negotiate favorable terms. Our ability to meet our long-term liquidity requirements is subject to the renewal of our credit and repurchase facilities and/or obtaining other sources of financing, including additional debt or equity from time to time. Any decision by our lenders and/or investors to make additional funds available to us in the future will depend upon a number of factors, such as our compliance with the terms of our existing credit arrangements, our financial performance, industry and market trends in our various businesses, the lenders' and/or investors' own resources and policies concerning loans and investments, and the relative attractiveness of alternative investment or lending opportunities. If we cannot raise cash by selling debt or equity securities, we may be forced to sell our assets at unfavorable prices or discontinue various business activities. Our inability to access the capital markets could have a negative impact on our growth of taxable income and also our ability to pay dividends.

Any significant margin calls under our financing facilities would adversely affect our liquidity and may adversely affect our financial results.

           During periods of disruption in the financial markets, the mortgage industry may experience substantial turmoil as a result of a lack of liquidity in the secondary markets. At such times, investors may be unwilling to purchase interests in securitizations due, in part, to:

•

the lack of financing to acquire these securitization interests;



•

the widening of returns expected by institutional investors on securitization interests over the prevailing Treasury rate; and



•

market uncertainty.

           As a result, during these periods, many mortgage originators, including us, may be unable to access the securitization market on favorable terms. This may result in some companies declaring bankruptcy. Some companies, like us, may be required to sell loans on a whole loan basis and liquidate holdings of mortgage-backed securities to repay short-term borrowings. However, the large amount of mortgages available for sale on a whole loan basis may create an oversupply and affect the pricing offered for these mortgages, which in turn may reduce the value of the collateral underlying the financing facilities. Therefore, many providers of financing facilities may initiate margin calls. Margin calls may result when our lenders evaluate the market value of the collateral securing our financing facilities and require us to provide them with additional equity or collateral to secure our borrowings.

           Our financing facilities are short-term borrowings and in the event of a market disruption, many traditional providers of financing facilities may be unwilling to provide facilities on favorable terms, or at all. Our current financing facilities continue to be short-term borrowings and we expect this to continue. If we cannot renew or replace maturing borrowings, we may have to sell, on a whole loan basis, the loans securing these facilities, which, depending upon market conditions may result in substantial losses.

Increased levels of early prepayments of mortgages may accelerate our amortization expenses and decrease our net interest income.

           Mortgage prepayments generally increase on our ARMs when fixed mortgage interest rates fall below the then-current interest rates on outstanding ARMs or fully indexed ARMs. Prepayments on mortgages are also affected by the terms and credit grades of the mortgages, their interest rate reset date, conditions in the financial markets, housing appreciation and general economic conditions. If we acquire mortgages at a premium and they are subsequently prepaid, we must expense the unamortized premium at the time of the prepayment. We could possibly lose the opportunity to earn interest at a higher rate over the expected life of the mortgage. Also, if prepayments on mortgages increase when interest rates are declining, our net interest income may decrease if we cannot reinvest the prepayments in mortgage assets with comparable net interest margins. If prepayment rates differ from our projections, we may experience a change in net earnings due to a change in the ratio of derivatives to the related mortgages. This may result in a reduction of cash flows from our mortgage loans net of financing costs as we have a higher percentage of derivative costs related to these loans than originally projected.

           We generally acquire mortgages on a servicing released basis, meaning we acquire both the mortgages and the rights to service them. This strategy requires us to pay a higher purchase price or premium for the mortgages. If the mortgages that we

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acquire at a premium prepay faster than originally projected GAAP requires us to write down the remaining capitalized premium amounts at a faster speed than was originally projected, which would decrease our current net interest income.

Interest rate fluctuations may adversely affect our operating results.

           Our operations, as a mortgage loan acquirer and originator, an investor in mortgage loans or a warehouse lender, may be adversely affected by rising and falling interest rates. Interest rates have been historically low over the past few years; however increases in interest rates may discourage potential borrowers from refinancing mortgages, borrowing to purchase homes or seeking second mortgages. For example, during 2005, the Federal Reserve Bank increased short term rates a total of 200 basis points. This has decreased the amount of mortgages available to be acquired or originated by our mortgage operations and has decreased the demand for repurchase financing provided by our warehouse lending operations, which adversely affects our operating results if we are not able to commensurately increase our market share. If short-term interest rates exceed long-term interest rates, there is a higher risk of increased loan prepayments, as borrowers may seek to refinance their fixed and adjustable rate mortgages at lower long-term fixed interest rates. Increased loan prepayments could lead to a reduction in the number of loans in our long-term mortgage portfolio and reduce our net interest income. Rising interest rates may also increase delinquencies, foreclosures and losses on our adjustable rate mortgages.

           We are subject to the risk of rising mortgage interest rates between the time we commit to purchase mortgages at a fixed price through the issuance of individual, bulk or other rate-locks and the time we sell or securitize those mortgages. An increase in interest rates will generally result in a decrease in the market value of mortgages that we have committed to purchase at a fixed price, but have not been sold or securitized. As a result, we may record a smaller gain, or even a loss, upon the sale or securitization of those mortgages.

If we are unable to complete securitizations or if we experience delayed mortgage loan sales or securitization closings, we could face a liquidity shortage which would adversely affect our operating results.

           We rely significantly upon securitizations to generate cash proceeds to repay borrowings and replenish our borrowing capacity. If there is a delay in a securitization closing or any reduction in our ability to complete securitizations we may be required to utilize other sources of financing, which, if available at all, may not be on similar terms. In addition, delays in closing mortgage sales or securitizations of our mortgages increase our risk by exposing us to credit and interest rate risks for this extended period of time. Furthermore, gains on sales from certain of our securitizations represent a significant portion of the taxable income dividend to the REIT from our taxable REIT subsidiary, IFC. Several factors could affect our ability to complete securitizations of our mortgages, including:

•

conditions in the securities and secondary markets;



•

credit quality of the mortgages acquired or originated through our mortgage operations;



•

volume of our mortgage loan acquisitions and originations;



•

our ability to obtain credit enhancements; and



•

lack of investors purchasing higher risk components of the securities.

           If we are unable to sell a sufficient number of mortgages at a premium or profitably securitize a significant number of our mortgages in a particular financial reporting period, then we could experience lower net earnings or a loss for that period, which could have a material adverse affect on our operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to profitably securitize or sell our loans on a whole loan basis, or at all.

           The market for first loss risk securities, which are securities that take the first loss when mortgages are not paid by the borrowers, is generally limited. In connection with our REMIC securitizations, we may not sell all securities subjecting us to a first loss risk. If we do not sell these securities, we may hold them for an extended period, subjecting us to a first loss risk.

A prolonged economic downturn or recession would likely result in a reduction of our mortgage origination activity which could adversely affect our financial results.

           The United States economy has undergone in the past and may in the future, undergo, a period of economic slowdown, which some observers view as a recession. An economic downturn or a recession may have a significant adverse impact on our operations and our financial condition. For example, a reduction in new mortgages may adversely affect our ability to maintain

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or expand our long-term mortgage portfolio, our principal means of generating earnings. In addition, a decline in new mortgage activity may likely result in reduced activity for our warehouse lending operations and our long-term investment operations. In the case of our mortgage operations, a decline in mortgage activity may result in fewer loans that meet its criteria for purchase and securitization or sale, thus resulting in a reduction in interest income and fees and gain on sale of loans. We may also experience larger than previously reported losses on our long-term mortgage portfolio due to a higher level of defaults or foreclosures or higher loss rates on our mortgages.

We may experience reduced net earnings or losses if our liabilities reprice at different rates than our assets.

           Our principal source of revenue is net interest income or net interest spread from our long-term mortgage portfolio, which is the difference between the interest we earn on our interest earning assets and the interest we pay on our interest bearing liabilities. The rates we pay on our borrowings are independent of the rates we earn on our assets and may be subject to more frequent periodic rate adjustments. Therefore, we could experience a decrease in net earnings or a loss because the interest rates on our borrowings could increase faster than the interest rates on our assets, if the increased borrowing costs are not offset by reduced cash payments on derivatives recorded in other non-interest income. If our net interest spread becomes negative, we will be paying more interest on our borrowings than we will be earning on our assets and we will be exposed to a risk of loss.

           Additionally, the rates paid on our borrowings and the rates received on our assets may be based upon different indices. Our long-term mortgage portfolio includes mortgages that are one-, three- and six-month LIBOR and one-year LIBOR hybrid ARMs. These are mortgages with fixed interest rates for an initial period of time, after which they begin bearing interest based upon short-term interest rate indices and adjust periodically. We generally fund mortgages with adjustable interest rate borrowings having interest rates that are indexed to short-term interest rates, typically one-month LIBOR, and adjust periodically at various intervals. During 2005, borrowing costs on adjustable rate CMO borrowings, which are tied to one month LIBOR and reprice monthly without limitation, rose at a faster pace than coupons on LIBOR ARMs securing CMO borrowings, which generally reprice every six months with limitation. To the extent that there is an increase in the interest rate index used to determine our adjustable interest rate borrowings and it increases faster than the indices used to determine the rates on our assets (i.e., the increase is not offset by a corresponding increase in the rates at which interest accrues on our assets) or is not offset by various cash payments on interest rate derivatives that we have in place at any given time, our net earnings will decrease or we will have net losses.

           ARMs typically have interest rate caps, which limit interest rates charged to the borrower during any given period. Our borrowings are not subject to similar restrictions. As a result, in a period of rapidly increasing interest rates, the interest rates we pay on our borrowings could increase without limitation, while the interest rates we earn on our ARMs would be capped. If this occurs, our net interest spread could be significantly reduced or we could suffer a net interest loss if not offset by a decrease in the cash payments on interest rate derivatives that we have in place at any given time.

Our operating results will be affected by the results of our interest rate risk management activities.

           To mitigate interest rate risks associated with our mortgage and long-term investment operations, we enter into transactions designed to limit our exposure to interest rate risks. To mitigate the interest rate risks associated with adjustable rate borrowings, we attempt to match the interest rate sensitivities of our ARMs with the associated financing liabilities. Management determines the nature and quantity of derivative transactions based on various factors, including market conditions and the expected volume of mortgage acquisitions. While we believe that we properly manage our interest rate risk on an economic and tax basis, we have elected not to achieve hedge accounting, as established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB," under the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, or "SFAS 133," for our interest rate risk management activities in our financial statements. The effect of not applying hedge accounting means that our interest rate risk management activities may result in significant volatility in our quarterly net earnings as interest rates go up or down. It is possible that there will be periods during which we will incur losses on derivative transactions that may result in net losses, as was the case in 2001 after the restatement of our consolidated financial statements, and for the three months ended June 30, 2005. In addition, if the counter parties to our derivative transactions are unable to perform according to the terms of the contracts, we may incur losses. Our derivative transactions may not offset the risk of adverse changes in our net interest margins.

We may be subject to losses on mortgages for which we do not obtain credit enhancements.

           We do not obtain credit enhancements such as mortgage pool or special hazard insurance for all of our mortgages and investments. Generally, we require mortgage insurance on any mortgage with an LTV ratio greater than 80%. During the time

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we hold mortgages for investment, we are subject to risks of borrower defaults and bankruptcies and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance. If a borrower defaults on a mortgage that we hold, we bear the risk of loss of principal to the extent there is any deficiency between the value of the related mortgaged property and the amount owing on the mortgage loan and any insurance proceeds available to us through the mortgage insurer. In addition, since defaulted mortgages, which under our financing arrangements are mortgages that are generally 60 to 90 days delinquent in payments, may be considered ineligible collateral under our borrowing arrangements, we could bear the risk of being required to own these loans without the use of borrowed funds until they are ultimately liquidated or possibly sold at a loss.

Our mortgage products may expose us to greater credit risks.

           We are an acquirer and originator of Alt-A mortgages, and to a lesser extent, multi-family and B/C mortgages. These are mortgages that generally may not qualify for purchase by government-sponsored agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or "conforming loans". Our operations may be negatively affected due to our investments in these mortgages. Credit risks associated with these mortgages may be greater than those associated with conforming mortgages. The interest rates we charge on these mortgages are often higher than those charged for conforming loans in order to compensate for the higher risk and lower liquidity. Lower levels of liquidity may cause us to hold loans or other mortgage-related assets supported by these loans that we otherwise would not hold. By doing this, we assume the potential risk of increased delinquency rates and/or credit losses as well as interest rate risk. Additionally, the combination of different underwriting criteria and higher rates of interest leads to greater risk, including higher prepayment rates and higher delinquency rates and/or credit losses. We also have loan programs that allow a borrower to pay only the interest attributable to his loan for a set period of time. If there is a decline in real estate values borrowers may default on these types of loans since they have not reduced their principal balances, which, therefore, could exceed the value of their property. In addition, a reduction in property values would also cause an increase in the LTV ratio for that loan which could have the effect of reducing the value of that loan.

           There has been an increase in production of our loan product which is characterized as "interest only" and option ARM loans. There have been recent announcements by federal regulators concerning interest-only loan programs, option ARM loan programs and other ARM loans with deeply discounted initial rates and/or negative amortization features. There is increasing public policy debate focused on the rapid increase in the use of loans with interest-only features that require no amortization of principal for a protracted period or loans with potential negative amortization features, such as option payment ARMs. Already one rating agency (Standard & Poors) has required greater credit enhancements for securitization pools that are backed by option ARMs. These could lead to the loan product becoming less available as financing options and hence this could have a material affect on the value of such products.

Our multi-family and commercial mortgages may expose us to increased lending risks.

           Generally, we consider multi-family and commercial mortgages to involve a higher degree of risk compared to first mortgages on one- to four-family, owner occupied residential properties. These mortgages have higher risks than mortgages secured by residential real estate because repayment of the mortgages often depends on the successful operations and the income stream of the borrowers. Furthermore, multi-family and commercial mortgages typically involve larger mortgage balances to single borrowers or groups of related borrowers compared to one- to four-family residential mortgages.

Our use of second mortgages exposes us to greater credit risks.

           Our security interest in the property securing second mortgages is subordinated to the interest of the first mortgage holder and the second mortgages have a higher combined LTV ratio than does the first mortgage. If the value of the property is equal to or less than the amount needed to repay the borrower's obligation to the first mortgage holder upon foreclosure, our second mortgage loan will not be repaid.

Lending to non-conforming borrowers may expose us to a higher risk of delinquencies, foreclosures and losses.

           Our market includes borrowers who may be unable to obtain mortgage financing from conventional mortgage sources. Mortgages made to such borrowers generally entail a higher risk of delinquency and higher losses than mortgages made to borrowers who utilize conventional mortgage sources. Delinquency, foreclosures and losses generally increase during economic slowdowns or recessions. The actual risk of delinquencies, foreclosures and losses on mortgages made to our borrowers could be higher under adverse economic conditions than those currently experienced in the mortgage lending industry in general.

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           Further, any material decline in real estate values increases the LTV ratios of mortgages previously made by us, thereby weakening collateral coverage and increasing the possibility of a loss in the event of a borrower default. Any sustained period of increased delinquencies, foreclosures or losses after the mortgages are sold could adversely affect the pricing of our future loan sales and our ability to sell or securitize our mortgages in the future. In the past, certain of these factors have caused revenues and net earnings of many participants in the mortgage industry, including us, to fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

Our borrowings and use of substantial leverage may cause losses.

Our use of CMOs may expose our operations to credit losses.

           To grow our long-term mortgage portfolio, we borrow a substantial portion of the market value of substantially all of our investments in mortgages in the form of CMOs. There are no limitations on the amount of CMO borrowings we may incur, other than the aggregate value of the underlying mortgages. We currently use CMOs as financing vehicles to increase our leverage since mortgages held for CMO collateral are retained for investment.

           Retaining mortgages as collateral for CMOs exposes our operations to greater credit losses than does the use of other securitization techniques that are treated as sales because as the equity holder in the security, we are allocated losses from the liquidation of defaulted loans first, prior to any other security holder. Although our liability under a collateralized mortgage obligation is limited to the collateral used to create the collateralized mortgage obligation, we generally are required to make a cash equity investment to fund collateral in excess of the amount of the securities issued in order to obtain the appropriate credit ratings for the securities being sold, and therefore obtain the lowest interest rate available, on the CMOs. If we experience greater credit losses than expected on the pool of loans subject to the CMO, the value of our equity investment will decrease and we may have to increase the allowance for loan losses on our financial statements.

If we default under our financing facilities, we may be forced to liquidate collateral.

           If we default under our financing facilities, our lenders could force us to liquidate the collateral. If the value of the collateral is less than the amount borrowed, we could be required to pay the difference in cash. Furthermore, if we default under one facility, it would generally cause a default under our other facilities. If we were to declare bankruptcy, some of our reverse repurchase agreements may obtain special treatment and our creditors would then be allowed to liquidate the collateral without any delay. On the other hand, if a lender with whom we have a reverse repurchase agreement declares bankruptcy, we might experience difficulty repurchasing our collateral, or enforcing our claim for damages, and it is possible that our claim could be repudiated and we could be treated as an unsecured creditor. If this occurs, our claims would be subject to significant delay and we may receive substantially less than our actual damages or nothing at all.

If we are forced to liquidate, we may have few unpledged assets for distribution to unsecured creditors.

           We have pledged a substantial portion of our assets to secure the repayment of CMO borrowings issued in securitizations and our financing facilities. We will also pledge substantially all of our current and future mortgages to secure borrowings pending their securitization or sale. The cash flows we receive from our investments that have not yet been distributed or pledged or used to acquire mortgages or other investments may be the only unpledged assets available to our unsecured creditors if we were liquidated.

The geographic concentration of our mortgages increases our exposure to risks in those areas.

           We do not set limitations on the percentage of our long-term mortgage portfolio composed of properties located in any one area (whether by state, zip code or other geographic measure). Concentration in any one area increases our exposure to the economic and natural hazard risks associated with that area. A majority of our mortgage acquisitions and originations, long-term mortgage portfolio and finance receivables are secured by properties in California and, to a lesser extent, Florida. Certain parts of California have experienced an economic downturn in past years and California and Florida have suffered the effects of certain natural hazards.

           Furthermore, if borrowers are not insured for natural disasters, which are typically not covered by standard hazard insurance policies, then they may not be able to repair the property or may stop paying their mortgages if the property is damaged. This would cause increased foreclosures and decrease our ability to recover losses on properties affected by such disasters. This would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. As a result of the hurricanes during 2005, we have provided a specific reserve of $12.8 million to record an estimated loss exposure for 886

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properties securing a total unpaid principal balance of $183.7 million in the affected areas. Declines in those residential real estate markets may reduce the values of the properties collateralizing the mortgages, increase foreclosures and losses and have material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

Representations and warranties made by us in our loan sales and securitizations may subject us to liability.

           In connection with our loan sales to third parties and our securitizations, we transfer mortgages acquired and originated by us to the third parties or into a trust in exchange for cash and, in the case of a CMO, residual certificates issued by the trust. The trustee or purchaser will have recourse to us with respect to the breach of the standard representations and warranties made by us at the time such mortgages are transferred. While we may have recourse to our customers for any such breaches, there can be no assurance of our customers' abilities to honor their respective obligations. Also, we engage in bulk whole loan sales pursuant to agreements that generally provide for recourse by the purchaser against us in the event of a breach of one of our representations or warranties, any fraud or misrepresentation during the mortgage origination process, or upon early default on such mortgage. We generally limit the potential remedies of such purchasers to the potential remedies we receive from the customers from whom we acquired or originated the mortgages. However, in some cases, the remedies available to a purchaser of mortgages from us may be broader than those available to us against the sellers of the mortgages and should a purchaser enforce its remedies against us, we are not always able to enforce whatever remedies we have against our customers. Furthermore, if we discover, prior to the sale or transfer of a loan, that there is any fraud or misrepresentation with respect to the mortgage and the originator fails to repurchase the mortgage, then we may not be able to sell the mortgage or we may have to sell the mortgage at a discount.

           In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to claims made against us by borrowers and trustees in our securitizations arising from, among other things, losses that are claimed to have been incurred as a result of alleged breaches of fiduciary obligations, misrepresentations, errors and omissions of our employees, officers and agents (including our appraisers), incomplete documentation and our failure to comply with various laws and regulations applicable to our business. Any claims asserted against us may result in legal expenses or liabilities that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

A reduction in the demand for our loan products may adversely affect our operations.

           The availability of sufficient mortgages meeting our criteria is dependent in part upon the size and level of activity in the residential real estate lending market and, in particular, the demand for residential mortgages, which is affected by:

•

interest rates;



•

national economic conditions;



•

residential property values; and



•

regulatory and tax developments.

If our mortgage acquisitions and originations decline, we may have:

•

decreased economies of scale;



•

higher origination costs per loan;



•

reduced fee income;



•

smaller gains on the sale of mortgages; and



•

an insufficient volume of mortgages to generate securitizations which thereby causes us to accumulate mortgages over a longer period.

Competition for mortgages is intense and may adversely affect our operations.

           We compete in acquiring and originating Alt-A, B/C and multi-family mortgages and issuing mortgage-backed securities with other mortgage conduit programs, investment banking firms, savings and loan associations, banks, thrift and

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loan associations, finance companies, mortgage bankers and brokers, insurance companies, other lenders, and other entities purchasing mortgage assets.

           We also face intense competition from Internet-based lending companies where entry barriers are relatively low. Some of our competitors are much larger than we are, have better name recognition than we do, and have far greater financial and other resources. Government-sponsored entities, in particular Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are also expanding their participation in the Alt-A mortgage industry. These government-sponsored entities have a size and cost-of-funds advantage over us that allows them to price mortgages at lower rates than we are able to offer. This phenomenon may seriously destabilize the Alt-A mortgage industry. In addition, if as a result of what may be less-conservative, risk-adjusted pricing, these government-sponsored entities experience significantly higher-than-expected losses, it would likely adversely affect overall investor perception of the Alt-A and B/C mortgage industry because the losses would be made public due to the reporting obligations of these entities.

           The intense competition in the Alt-A, B/C and multi-family mortgage industry has also led to rapid technological developments, evolving industry standards and frequent releases of new products and enhancements. As mortgage products are offered more widely through alternative distribution channels, such as the Internet, we may be required to make significant changes to our current retail and wholesale structure and information systems to compete effectively. Our inability to continue enhancing our current Internet capabilities, or to adapt to other technological changes in the industry, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.

           The need to maintain mortgage loan volume in this competitive environment creates a risk of price competition in the Alt-A, B/C and multi-family mortgage industry. Competition in the industry can take many forms, including interest rates and costs of a loan, less stringent underwriting standards, convenience in obtaining a loan, customer service, amount and term of a loan and marketing and distribution channels. Our failure to maintain our customer service levels may affect our ability to effectively compete in the mortgage industry. Price competition would lower the interest rates that we are able to charge borrowers, which would lower our interest income and/or our gain on sale of mortgage loans. Price-cutting or discounting reduces profits and will depress earnings if sustained for any length of time. If our competition uses less stringent underwriting standards we will be pressured to do so as well, resulting in greater loan risk without being able to price for that greater risk. Our competitors may lower their underwriting standards to increase their market share. If we do not relax underwriting standards in the face of competition, we may lose market share. Increased competition may also reduce the volume of our loan originations and acquisitions. Any increase in these pricing and credit pressures could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.

We are a defendant in purported class actions and may not prevail in these matters.

           Class action lawsuits and regulatory actions alleging improper marketing practices, abusive loan terms and fees, disclosure violations, improper yield spread premiums and other matters are risks faced by all mortgage originators, particularly those in the Alt-A and B/C market. We are a defendant in purported class actions pending in different states. The class actions allege generally that the loan originator improperly charged fees in violation of various state lending or consumer protection laws in connection with mortgages that we acquired. Although the suits are not identical, they generally seek unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and expenses and rescission of the mortgages, as well as a return of any improperly collected fees.

           Since January 10, 2006, several purported class action complaints have been filed against us and our executive officers and directors. The complaints, which are brought on behalf of persons who acquired common stock during the period of May 13, 2005 through August 9, 2005, generally allege violations of the federal securities laws due to allegedly false and misleading statements or omissions, related to the Company's financial condition and future prospects. Since February 1, 2006 derivative shareholder actions have also been filed against our officers and directors alleging breach of fiduciary duty, abuse of control, unjust enrichment and other related claims.

           These actions are in the early stages of litigation and, accordingly, it is difficult to predict the outcome or resolution of these matters or the timing for their resolution. We expect to incur defense costs and other expenses in connection with the class action lawsuits, and we cannot assure you that the ultimate outcome of these or other actions will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. In addition to the expense and burden incurred in defending this litigation and any damages that we may suffer, our management's efforts and attention may be diverted from the ordinary business operations in order to address these claims. If the final resolution of this litigation is unfavorable to us, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows might be materially adversely affected if our existing insurance coverage is unavailable or inadequate to resolve the matters.

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           We believe we have meritorious defenses to the actions and intend to defend against them vigorously; however, an adverse judgment in any of these matters could have a material adverse effect on us.

We may incur losses in the future.

           During the years ended December 31, 2001 and 2000, we experienced net losses of $2.2 million and $54.5 million. The 2001 loss was related to a loss on derivatives and the 2000 loss was the result of write-downs of non-performing investment securities secured by mortgages and additional increases in the provision for loan losses to provide for the deterioration of the performance of collateral supporting specific investment securities for 2000. During the year ended December 31, 1998, we experienced a net loss of $5.9 million primarily as the mortgage industry experienced substantial turmoil as a result of a lack of liquidity in the secondary markets, which caused us to sell mortgages at losses to meet margin calls on our financing facilities. We cannot be certain that revenues will remain at current levels or improve or that we will generate net earnings in the future, which could prevent us from effectuating our business strategy.

A substantial interruption in our use of iDASLg2 may adversely affect our level of mortgage acquisitions and originations.

           We utilize the Internet in our business principally for the implementation of our automated mortgage origination program, iDASLg2. iDASLg2 allows our customers to pre-qualify borrowers for various mortgage programs based on criteria requested from the borrower and renders an automated underwriting decision by issuing an approval of the mortgage loan or a referral for further review or additional information. Substantially all of our correspondents submit mortgages through iDASLg2 and all wholesale mortgages delivered by mortgage bankers and brokers are directly underwritten through the use of iDASLg2. iDASLg2 may be interrupted if the Internet experiences periods of poor performance, if our computer systems or the systems of our third-party service providers contain defects, or if customers are reluctant to use or have inadequate connectivity to the Internet. Increased government regulation of the Internet could also adversely affect our use of the Internet in unanticipated ways and discourage our customers from using our services. If our ability to use the Internet in providing our services is impaired, our ability to originate or acquire mortgages on an automated basis could be delayed or reduced. Furthermore, we rely on a third party hosting company in connection with the use of iDASLg2. If the third party hosting company fails for any reason, and adequate back-up is not implemented in a timely manner, it may delay and reduce those mortgage acquisitions and originations done through iDASLg2. Any substantial delay and reduction in our mortgage acquisitions and originations will reduce our taxable income for the applicable period.

We are exposed to potential fraud and credit losses in providing repurchase financing.

           As a warehouse lender, we lend money to mortgage bankers on a secured basis and we are subject to the risks associated with lending to mortgage bankers, including the risks of fraud, borrower default and bankruptcy, any of which could result in credit losses for us. Fraud risk may include, but is not limited to, the financing of nonexistent loans or fictitious mortgage loan transactions or the delivery to us of fraudulent collateral that could result in the loss of all sums we have advanced to the borrower. For example, during 2004, the warehouse lending operations had a specific allowance for loan losses of $10.7 million for impaired repurchase advances. Also, our claims as a secured lender in a bankruptcy proceeding may be subject to adjustment and delay.

Our delinquency ratios and our performance may be adversely affected by the performance of parties who service or sub-service our mortgages.

           We sell or contract with third-parties for the servicing of all mortgages, including those in our securitizations. Our operations are subject to risks associated with inadequate or untimely servicing. Poor performance by a servicer may result in greater than expected delinquencies and losses on our mortgages. A substantial increase in our delinquency or foreclosure rate could adversely affect our ability to access the capital and secondary markets for our financing needs. Also, with respect to mortgages subject to a securitization, greater delinquencies would adversely impact the value of our equity interest, if any, we hold in connection with that securitization.

           In a securitization, relevant agreements permit us to be terminated as servicer or master servicer under specific conditions described in these agreements. If, as a result of a servicer or sub-servicer's failure to perform adequately, we were terminated as master servicer of a securitization, the value of any master servicing rights held by us would be adversely affected.

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We face risks related to our recent accounting restatements.

           On July 22, 2004, we publicly announced that we had discovered accounting inaccuracies in previously reported financial statements. As a result, following consultation with our auditors, we decided to restate our financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, the three and six months ended June 30, 2003, the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 and for each of the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001. The restatements related to a correction to our revenue recognition policy with respect to the cash sales of mortgage servicing rights to unrelated third parties when the mortgage loans are retained, our accounting for derivatives and interest rate risk management activities, the accounting for loan purchase commitments as derivatives and selected elimination entries to consolidate IFC with that of IMH. We also corrected a clerical error in the calculation of earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2004.

           The restatement of our financial statements could lead to litigation claims and/or regulatory proceedings against us. The defense of any such claims or proceedings may cause the diversion of management's attention and resources, and we may be required to pay damages if any such claims or proceedings are not resolved in our favor. Any litigation or regulatory proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could cause us to incur significant legal and other expenses. We also may have difficulty raising equity capital or obtaining other financing, such as lines of credit or otherwise. We may not be able to effectuate our current operating strategy, including the ability to originate, acquire or securitize mortgage loans for retention or sale at projected levels. The occurence of any of the foregoing could harm our business and reputation and cause the price of our securities to decline.

We are exposed to environmental liabilities, with respect to properties that we take title to upon foreclosure, that could increase our costs of doing business and harm our results of operations.

           In the course of our activities, we may foreclose and take title to residential properties and become subject to environmental or mold liabilities with respect to those properties. The laws and regulations related to mold or environmental contamination often impose liability without regard to responsibility for the contamination. We may be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs incurred by these parties in connection with mold or environmental contamination, or may be required to investigate or clean up hazardous or toxic substances, or chemical releases at a property. The costs associated with investigation or remediation activities could be substantial. Moreover, as the owner or former owner of a contaminated site, we may be subject to common law claims by third parties based upon damages and costs resulting from mold or environmental contamination emanating from the property. If we ever become subject to significant mold or environmental liabilities, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be significantly harmed.

We are subject to risks of operational failure that are beyond our control.

           Substantially all of our operations are located in Newport Beach, California. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage and interruption from fire, flood, telecommunications failure, break-ins, earthquake and similar events. Our operations may also be interrupted by power disruptions, including rolling black-outs implemented in California due to power shortages. We do not have alternative power sources in all of our locations. Furthermore, our security mechanisms may be inadequate to prevent security breaches to our computer systems, including from computer viruses, electronic break-ins and similar disruptions. Such security breaches or operational failures could expose us to liability, impair our operations, result in losses, and harm our reputation.

If we fail to maintain effective systems of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, which could cause current and potential shareholders to lose confidence in our financial reporting, adversely affect the trading price of our securities or harm our operating results.

           Effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. Any failure to develop or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures could harm our reputation or operating results, or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Furthermore, if we do not have effective internal control over financial reporting, our external auditors will not be able to issue an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In the past, we have reported, and may discover in the future, material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.

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           Ineffective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our securities or affect our ability to access the capital markets and could result in regulatory proceedings against us by, among others, the SEC. In addition, a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting, which may lead to deficiencies in the preparation of financial statements, could lead to litigation claims against us. The defense of any such claims may cause the diversion of management's attention and resources, and we may be required to pay damages if any such claims or proceedings are not resolved in our favor. Any litigation, even if resolved in our favor, could cause us to incur significant legal and other expenses. Such events could harm our business, affect our ability to raise capital and adversely affect the trading price of our securities.

Regulatory Risks

Violation of various federal, state and local laws may result in losses on our loans.

           Applicable state and local laws generally regulate interest rates and other charges, require certain disclosure, and require licensing of the mortgage broker, lender and purchaser. In addition, other state and local laws, public policy and general principles of equity relating to the protection of consumers, unfair and deceptive practices and debt collection practices may apply to the origination, servicing and collection of our loans. Mortgage loans are also subject to federal laws, including:

•

the Federal Truth-in-Lending Act and Regulation Z promulgated there under, which require certain disclosures to the borrowers regarding the terms of the loans;



•

the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B promulgated there under, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, marital status, national origin, receipt of public assistance or the exercise of any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, in the extension of credit;



•

the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap, in housing-related transactions;



•

the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which regulates the use and reporting of information related to the borrower's credit experience;



•

the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, which regulates credit reporting and use of credit information in making unsolicited offers of credit;



•

the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which imposes requirements on all lenders with respect to their collection and use of nonpublic financial information and requires them to maintain the security of that information;



•

the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which requires that consumers receive disclosures at various times and outlaws kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services;



•

the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which requires the reporting of public loan data;



•

the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Can Spam Act, which regulate commercial solicitations via telephone, fax, and the Internet;



•

the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980, which preempts certain state usury laws; and



•

the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982, which preempts certain state lending laws which regulate alternative mortgage transactions.

           Violations of certain provisions of these federal and state laws may limit our ability to collect all or part of the principal of or interest on the loans and in addition could subject us to damages and could result in the mortgagors rescinding the loans whether held by us or subsequent holders of the loans. In addition, such violations may cause us to be in default under our credit and repurchase facilities and could result in the loss of licenses held by us.

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           Similarly, it is possible borrowers may assert that the loan forms we use or acquire, including forms for "interest-only" and "option ARM' loans for which there is little standardization or uniformity, fail to properly describe the transactions they intended, or that our forms fail to comply with applicable consumer protection statutes or other federal and state laws. This could result in liability for violations of certain provisions of federal and state consumer protection laws and our inability to sell the loans and our obligation to repurchase the loans or indemnify the purchasers.

New regulatory laws affecting the mortgage industry may increase our costs and decrease our mortgage origination and acquisition.

           The regulatory environments in which we operate have an impact on the activities in which we may engage, how the activities may be carried out, and the profitability of those activities. Therefore, changes to laws, regulations or regulatory policies can affect whether and to what extent we are able to operate profitably. For example, recently enacted and proposed local, state and federal legislation targeted at predatory lending could have the unintended consequence of raising the cost or otherwise reducing the availability of mortgage credit for those potential borrowers with less than prime-quality credit histories, thereby resulting in a reduction of otherwise legitimate Alt-A or B/C lending opportunities. Similarly, recently enacted and proposed local, state and federal privacy laws and laws prohibiting or limiting marketing by telephone, facsimile, email and the Internet may limit our ability to market and our ability to access potential loan applicants. For example, the Can Spam Act of 2003 establishes the first national standards for the sending of commercial email allowing, among other things, unsolicited commercial email provided it contains certain information and an opt-out mechanism. We cannot provide any assurance that the proposed laws, rules and regulations, or other similar laws, rules or regulations, will not be adopted in the future. Adoption of these laws and regulations could have a material adverse impact on our business by substantially increasing the costs of compliance with a variety of inconsistent federal, state and local rules, or by restricting our ability to charge rates and fees adequate to compensate us for the risk associated with certain loans.

           Some states and local governments have enacted, or may enact, laws or regulations that prohibit inclusion of some provisions in mortgage loans that have mortgage rates or origination costs in excess of prescribed levels, and require that borrowers be given certain disclosures prior to the consummation of such mortgage loans. Our failure to comply with these laws could subject us to monetary penalties and could result in the borrowers rescinding the mortgage loans, whether held by us or subsequent holders. Lawsuits have been brought in various states making claims against assignees of these loans for violations of state law. Compliance with some of these restrictions requires lenders to make subjective judgments, such as whether a loan will provide a "net tangible benefit" to the borrower. These restrictions expose a lender to risks of litigation and regulatory sanction no matter how carefully a loan is underwritten and impact the way in which a loan is underwritten. The remedies for violations of these laws are not based solely on actual harm to the consumer and can result in damages that exceed the loan balance. Liability for violations of HOEPA, as well as violations of many of the state and local equivalents, could extend not only to us, but to our secured warehouse lenders, institutional loan purchasers, securitization trusts that hold our loans and other assignees, regardless of whether such assignee knew of or participated in the violation.

           Furthermore, various federal and state laws impose significant privacy or customer information security obligations which may subject us to additional costs and legal risks and we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to lawsuits or compliance actions under such requirements. Similarly various state and federal laws have been enacted to restrict unsolicited advertising using telephones, facsimile machines and electronic means of transmission. These laws and regulations could have a material adverse impact on our business by substantially increasing the costs of compliance or by subjecting us to lawsuits or compliance actions.

           In addition to changes to legal requirements contained in statutes, regulations, case law, and other sources of law, changes in the investigation or enforcement policies of federal and state regulatory agencies could impact the activities in which we may engage, how the activities may be carried out, and the profitability of those activities. For example, various state and federal agencies have initiated regulatory enforcement proceedings against mortgage companies for engaging in business practices that were not specifically or clearly proscribed by law, but which in the judgment of the regulatory agencies were unfair or deceptive to consumers. Federal and state regulatory agencies might also determine in the future that certain of our business practices not presently proscribed by any law and not the subject of previous enforcement actions are unfair or deceptive to consumers. If this happens, it could impact the activities in which we may engage, how we carry out those activities, and our profitability. We might also be required to pay fines, make reimbursements, and make other payments to third parties for past business practices. Additionally, if an administrative enforcement proceeding were to result in us having to discontinue or alter certain business practices, then we might be placed at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis competitors who are not required to make comparable changes to their business practices. This competitive disadvantage could be most acute if

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the business practices that we are required to discontinue or change are not clearly proscribed by any federal or state law of general applicability.

New Criteria May Effect the Value or Marketability of Certain of Our Loan Products

           The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administration (none of whom regulate IMH) jointly issued draft guidance to promote sound credit risk management practices. The guidance cautions lenders to consider all relevant risk factors when establishing underwriting guidelines, including a borrower's income and debt levels, credit score as well as the loan size, collateral value, lien position and property type and location. It stresses that prudently underwritten home equity loans should include an evaluation of a borrower's capacity to adequately service the debt, and that reliance on a credit score is insufficient because it relies on historical financial performance not present capacity to pay. While not specifically applicable to IMH, the guidance is instructive of the regulatory climate covering low and no documentation loans, which IMH does acquire and originate, and hence it may affect our ability to sell these loans to third parties, should we elect to sell them. If we were required to make these changes to our business practices, it might affect the business activities in which we may engage and the profitability of those activities. Furthermore, some of the institutions from which we purchase or to which we sell nontraditional mortgage products might be among the institutions directly subject to the Guidance. Our business could be adversely impacted if these institutions are required to make changes to their business practices and policies relative to nontraditional mortgage products. For example, if entities from which we purchase our loans are required to change their origination guidelines thereby affecting the volume, diversity and quality of loans available for purchase by us, or if purchasers of our mortgage loans are required to make changes to the purchasing policies then our ability to sell mortgage loans, our profitability and our credit risk exposure could be adversely impacted.

           There has been an increase in production of loan products which we characterize as "interest-only" and "option-ARM" loans. There is increasing public policy debate over loans with interest-only features that require no amortization of principal for a protracted period and loans with potential negative amortization features, such as option payment ARMs. There is a risk that this debate will lead to the enactment of laws which limit our ability to continue producing these loan products at our present levels, or which augment the risks of legal liability that we face in connection with such loan products. Further, one rating agency has required greater credit enhancements for securitization pools that are backed by option ARMS, actions such as this by rating agencies can impact the profitability of originating or dealing in these loan products.

We may be subject to fines or other penalties based upon the conduct of our independent brokers or correspondents.

           The mortgage brokers and correspondents from which we obtain mortgages have parallel and separate legal obligations to which they are subject. While these laws may not explicitly hold the originating lenders or an acquirer of the loan responsible for the legal violations of mortgage bankers and brokers, increasingly federal and state agencies have sought to impose such liability. Previously, for example, the United States Federal Trade Commission, or "FTC," entered into a settlement agreement with a mortgage lender where the FTC characterized a broker that had placed all of its loan production with a single lender as the "agent" of the lender; the FTC imposed a fine on the lender in part because, as "principal," the lender was legally responsible for the mortgage broker's unfair and deceptive acts and practices. The United States Justice Department, various state attorney generals, and other state officials have sought to hold sub-prime mortgage lenders responsible for the pricing practices of their mortgage bankers and brokers, alleging that the mortgage lender was directly responsible for the total fees and charges paid by the borrower under the Fair Housing Act even if the lender neither dictated what the mortgage banker could charge nor kept the money for its own account. Accordingly, we may be subject to fines or other penalties based upon the conduct of our independent mortgage bankers, brokers or correspondents.

Our operations may be adversely affected if we are subject to the Investment Company Act.

           We intend to conduct our business at all times so as not to become regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. The Investment Company Act exempts entities that are primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate.

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           In order to qualify for this exemption we must maintain at least 55% of our assets directly in mortgages, qualifying pass-through certificates and certain other qualifying interests in real estate. Our ownership of certain mortgage assets may be limited by the provisions of the Investment Company Act, should we ever be subject to the Act. If the SEC adopts a contrary interpretation with respect to these securities or otherwise believes we do not satisfy the above exception, we could be required to restructure our activities or sell certain of our assets. To insure that we continue to qualify for the exemption we may be required at times to adopt less efficient methods of financing certain of our mortgage assets and we may be precluded from acquiring certain types of higher-yielding mortgage assets. The net effect of these factors will be to lower our net interest income. If we fail to qualify for exemption from registration as an investment company, our ability to use leverage would be substantially reduced, and we would not be able to conduct our business as described. Our business will be materially and adversely affected if we fail to qualify for this exemption.

Regulation AB may create additional liabilities, costs and restrictions for our business.

           On December 15, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the final regulations covering the registration, disclosure, communications, and reporting requirements for for asset-backed securities ("Regulation AB"), which became effective January 1, 2006. The new rules contain several new disclosure requirements, including requirements to provide historical financial data with respect to either prior securitized pools of the same asset class or prior originations and information with respect to the background, experience and roles of the various transaction parties, including those involved in the origination, sale or servicing of the loans in the securitized pool. Moreover, annual assessments of compliance with enhanced servicing criteria by servicers and attestation reports from an independent accounting firm must be obtained with respect to securitized pools of our mortgage loans.

           Securitizations.    Our failure to provide the information required by Regulation AB could subject us to Securities Act liability either directly or indirectly through the indemnification provisions of the transaction documents related to a securitization of our mortgage loans. Furthermore, any failure to comply with the new reporting requirements for asset-backed securities under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, may result in the loss of eligibility to register our asset-backed securities on Form S-3 which would increase the costs of and limit our access to the public asset-backed securities market.

           Mortgage Loan Sales. As a result of the implementation of Regulation AB, our loan sale agreements with third parties may require us to provide certain information with respect to ourselves and historical information with respect to the performance of our mortgage loans to such purchasers. Our failure to provide this information with respect to any of our mortgage loan products may result in a breach of a contractual obligation for which we provide an indemnification. In addition, if we are not able to provide such information, the number of potential purchasers of our mortgage loans may be limited or the transaction sizes of sales of our mortgage loans may be limited, each of which may have an adverse effect on the price we receive for our mortgage loans.

           In the case of both securitizations and loan sales, compliance with Regulation AB will increase our cost of doing business as we are required to develop systems and procedures to ensure that we do not violate any aspect of these new requirements.

Risks Related To Our Status As A REIT

We may not pay dividends to stockholders.

           REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code generally require that we annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of all of our taxable income, exclusive of the application of any tax loss carry forwards that may be used to offset current period taxable income. These provisions restrict our ability to retain earnings and thereby generate capital from our operating activities. We may decide at a future date to terminate our REIT status, which would cause us to be taxed at the corporate levels and cease paying regular dividends. In addition, for any year that we do not generate taxable income, we are not required to declare and pay dividends to maintain our REIT status. For instance, due to losses incurred in 2000, we did not declare any dividends from November 2000 until September 2001.

           To date, a portion of our taxable income and cash flow has been attributable to our receipt of dividend distributions from the mortgage operations. The mortgage operations is not a REIT and is not, therefore, subject to the above-described REIT distribution requirements. Because the mortgage operations is seeking to retain earnings to fund the future growth of our mortgage operations business, IFC's board of directors, only comprised of executive officers of the Company, which is not the

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same as IMH's board of directors, may decide that the mortgage operations should cease making dividend distributions in the future. This would materially reduce the amount of our taxable income and in turn, would reduce the amount we would be required to distribute as dividends.

If we fail to maintain our REIT status, we may be subject to taxation as a regular corporation.

           We believe that we have operated and intend to continue to operate in a manner that enables us to meet the requirements for qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. We have not requested, and do not plan to request, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that we qualify as a REIT.

           Moreover, no assurance can be given that legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions will not significantly change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of such qualification. Our continued qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational and stockholder ownership requirements on a continuing basis.

           If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we would not be allowed a deduction for distributions to stockholders in computing our taxable income and would be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates. We also may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. Unless we are entitled to relief under specific statutory provisions, we could not elect to be taxed as a REIT for four taxable years following the year during which we were disqualified. Therefore, if we lose our REIT status, the funds available for distribution to stockholders would be reduced substantially for each of the years involved. Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect the value of our securities.

           On October 22, 2004, President Bush signed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (the "2004 Act"), which, among other things, amends the rules applicable to REIT qualification. In particular, the 2004 Act provides that a REIT that fails the quarterly asset tests for one or more quarters will not lose its REIT status as a result of such failure if either (i) such failure is regarded as a de minimis failure under standards set out in the 2004 Act, or (ii) the failure is greater than a de minimis failure but is attributable to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. In the case of a greater than de minimis failure, however, the REIT must pay a tax and must remedy the failure within 6 months of the close of the quarter in which such failure occurred. In addition, the 2004 Act provides relief for failures of other tests imposed as a condition of REIT qualification, as long as such failures are attributable to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. A REIT would be required to pay a penalty of $50,000, however, in the case of each such failure. The above-described changes apply for taxable years of REITs beginning after the date of enactment.

Potential characterization of distributions or gain on sale as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt investors.

           If (1) all or a portion of our assets are subject to the rules relating to taxable mortgage pools, (2) we are a "pension-held REIT," (3) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred debt to purchase or hold our common stock, or (4) the residual REMIC interests we buy generate "excess inclusion income," then a portion of the distributions to and, in the case of a stockholder described in (3), gains realized on the sale of common stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to Federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Internal Revenue Code.

Classification as a taxable mortgage pool could subject us or certain of our stockholders to increased taxation.

           If we have borrowings with two or more maturities and, (1) those borrowings are secured by mortgages or mortgage-backed securities and, (2) the payments made on the borrowings are related to the payments received on the underlying assets, then the borrowings and the pool of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities to which such borrowings relate may be classified as a taxable mortgage pool under the Internal Revenue Code. If any part of our Company were to be treated as a taxable mortgage pool, then our REIT status would not be impaired, but a portion of the taxable income we recognize may, under regulations to be issued by the Treasury Department, be characterized as "excess inclusion" income and allocated among our stockholders to the extent of and generally in proportion to the distributions we make to each stockholder. Any excess inclusion income would:

•

not be allowed to be offset by a stockholder's net operating losses;



•

be subject to a tax as unrelated business income if a stockholder were a tax-exempt stockholder;

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•

be subject to the application of federal income tax withholding at the maximum rate (without reduction for any otherwise applicable income tax treaty) with respect to amounts allocable to foreign stockholders; and



•

be taxable (at the highest corporate tax rate) to us, rather than to our stockholders, to the extent the excess inclusion income relates to stock held by disqualified organizations (generally, tax-exempt companies not subject to tax on unrelated business income, including governmental organizations).

           Based on our analysis and advice of our tax counsel, we believe our existing financing arrangements do not create a taxable mortgage pool.

We may be subject to possible adverse consequences as a result of limits on ownership of our shares.

           Our charter limits ownership of our capital stock by any single stockholder, including a corporation, to 9.5% of our outstanding shares unless waived by the board of directors. By subjecting entities, such as corporations, to the ownership limitation, our charter is more restrictive than the requirements of the federal tax laws applicable to REITs, and thereby serves the dual purpose of helping us maintain our REIT status and protecting us from an unwanted takeover. Our board of directors may increase the 9.5% ownership limit. In addition, to the extent consistent with the REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, our board of directors may, pursuant to our articles of incorporation, waive the 9.5% ownership limit for a stockholder or purchaser of our stock. In order to waive the 9.5% ownership limit our board of directors must require the stockholder requesting the waiver to provide certain representations to the Company to ensure compliance with the REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Our charter also prohibits anyone from buying shares if the purchase would result in us losing our REIT status. This could happen if a share transaction results in fewer than 100 persons owning all of our shares or in five or fewer persons, applying certain broad attribution rules of the Internal Revenue Code, owning more than 50% (by value) of our shares. If you or anyone else acquires shares in excess of the ownership limit or in violation of the ownership requirements of the Internal Revenue Code for REITs, we:

•

will consider the transfer to be null and void;



•

will not reflect the transaction on our books;



•

may institute legal action to enjoin the transaction;



•

will not pay dividends or other distributions with respect to those shares;



•

will not recognize any voting rights for those shares;



•

may redeem the shares; and



•

will consider the shares held in trust for the benefit of a charitable beneficiary as designated by us.

The trustee shall sell the shares held in trust and the owner of the excess shares will be entitled to the lesser of:

(a)

the price paid by the owner;



(b)

if the owner did not purchase the excess shares, the closing price for the shares on the national securities exchange on which IMH is listed on the day of the event causing the shares to be held in trust; or



(c)

the price received by the trustee from the sale of the shares.

           Notwithstanding the above, our charter contains a provision which provides that nothing in the charter will preclude the settlement of transactions entered into through the facilities of the NYSE.

Limitations on acquisition and change in control ownership limit.

           Our charter and bylaws, and Maryland corporate law contain a number of provisions that could delay, defer, or prevent a transaction or a change of control of us that might involve a premium price for holders of our capital stock or otherwise be in their best interests by increasing the associated costs and timeframe necessary to make an acquisition, making the process for acquiring a sufficient number of shares of our capital stock to effectuate or accomplish such a change of control longer and

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more costly. In addition, investors may refrain from attempting to cause a change in control because of the difficulty associated with such a venture because of the limitations.

Risks Related To Ownership of Our Securities

Our share prices have been and may continue to be volatile.

           Historically, the market price of our securities has been volatile. The market price of our securities is likely to continue to be highly volatile and could be significantly affected by factors including:

•

the amount of dividends paid;



•

availability of liquidity in the securitization market;



•

loan sale pricing;



•

termination of financing agreements;



•

margin calls by warehouse lenders or changes in warehouse lending rates;



•

unanticipated fluctuations in our operating results;



•

prepayments on mortgages;



•

valuations of securitization related assets;



•

the effect of the restatement of our financial condition and results of operations;



•

mark to market adjustments related to the fair value of derivatives;



•

cost of funds; and



•

general market conditions.

           During 2005, our common stock reached an intra-day high sales price of $23.49 on February 2, and closed at the low sales price of $9.00 on October 11. In addition, significant price and volume fluctuations in the stock market have particularly affected the market prices for the securities of mortgage REIT companies such as ours. These broad market fluctuations have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect the market price of our common stock. If our results of operations fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors in a future quarter, the market price of our securities could also be materially adversely affected and we may experience difficulty in raising capital.

Sales of additional common or preferred stock may adversely affect its market price.

           To sustain our growth strategy we intend to raise capital through the sale of equity. The sale or the proposed sale of substantial amounts of our common stock or preferred stock in the public market could materially adversely affect the market price of our common stock or other outstanding securities. We do not know the actual or perceived effect of these offerings, the timing of these offerings, the potential dilution of the book value or earnings per share of our securities then outstanding and the effect on the market price of our securities then outstanding. For example, during 2005, the Company issued shares of common and preferred stock which resulted in net proceeds of approximately $4.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

           We also have shares reserved for future issuance under our stock plans. The sale of a large amount of shares or the perception that such sales may occur, could adversely affect the market price for our common stock or other outstanding securities.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

           Our primary executive and administrative offices are located at 1401 Dove Street, Newport Beach, California where we have a premises lease expiring in May of 2008 to use approximately 74,000 square feet of office space. We also executed premises leases located at 1500 Quail Street, Newport Beach, California expiring in September of 2008 to use approximately 15,000 square feet of office space and 1301 Dove St., Newport Beach, California expiring in August of 2008 to use approximately 16,000 square feet of office space to accommodate expansion. In addition, the mortgage operations have mortgage production offices located in various states with premises lease terms ranging from month to month or one to two years.

           On March 4, 2005, we entered into a new lease for our business and corporate facilities. The lease is for a term of ten years and commences on the date construction of the premises is complete or the date we commence business operations on the premises. We have two options to extend the term for five-year periods for each option. The premises are to be located at 19500 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, California and are anticipated to be ready for business June of 2006. The premises will consist of a seven-story building containing approximately 200,000 square feet with an initial annual rental rate of $31.80 per square foot, which amount increases every 30 months. We have options for additional space in the complex if needed. We anticipate moving our entire Orange County operations to this facility in June 2006.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Mortgage-related Litigation

           On June 27, 2000, a complaint captioned Michael P. and Shellie Gilmor v. Preferred Credit Corporation and Impac Funding Corporation, et al. was filed in the Circuit Court for Clay County, Missouri, as a purported class action lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated Missouri's Second Loans Act and Merchandising Practices Act. In July 2001, the Missouri complaint was amended to include IMH and other Impac-related entities. A plaintiffs class was certified on January 2, 2003. On June 22, 2004, the court issued an order to stay all proceedings pending the outcome of an appeal in a similar case in the Eighth Circuit.

           On February 3, 2004, a complaint captioned James and Jill Baker v. Century Financial Group, Inc, et al was filed in the Circuit Court of Clay County, Missouri, as a purported class action lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated Missouri's Second Loan Act and Merchandising Practices Act.

           On October 2, 2001, a complaint captioned Deborah Searcy, Shirley Walker, et al. v. Impac Funding Corporation, Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. et. al. was filed in the Wayne County Circuit Court, State of Michigan, as a purported class action lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated Michigan's Secondary Mortgage Loan Act, Credit Reform Act and Consumer Protection Act. A motion to dismiss an amended complaint has been filed, but not yet ruled upon.

           On July 31, 2003, a purported class action complaint captioned Frazier, et al v. Impac Funding Corp., et al, was filed in federal court in Tennessee. The causes of action in the action allege violations of Tennessee's usury statute and Consumer Protection Act. A motion to dismiss the complaint was filed and not yet ruled upon. The court agreed to administratively close the case on April 5, 2004 pending an appeal in a similar case. On April 29, 2004, the court issued its order administratively closing the case.

           On November 25, 2003, a complaint captioned Michael and Amber Stallings v. Empire Funding Home Loan Owner Trust 1997-3; U.S. Bank, National Association; and Wilmington Trust Company was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, as a purported class action lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated Tennessee predatory lending laws governing second mortgage loans. The complaint further alleges that certain assignees of mortgage loans, including two Impac-related trusts, should be included as defendants in the lawsuit. Like the Frazier matter this case was administratively closed on April 29, 2004 pending an appeal in a similar case.

           All of the above purported class action lawsuits are similar in nature in that they allege that the mortgage loan originators violated the respective state's statutes by charging excessive fees and costs when making second mortgage loans on residential real estate. The complaints allege that IFC was a purchaser, and is a holder, along with other affiliated entities, of second mortgage loans originated by other lenders. The plaintiffs in the lawsuits are seeking damages that include disgorgement of interest paid, restitution, rescission, actual damages, statutory damages, exemplary damages, pre-judgment interest and punitive damages. No specific dollar amount of damages is specified in the complaints.

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           We believe that we have meritorious defenses to the above claims and intend to defend these claims vigorously. Nevertheless, litigation is uncertain and we may not prevail in the lawsuits and can express no opinion as to its ultimate outcome. An adverse judgment in any of these matters could have a material adverse affect on us; however, no judgment in any matter is probable to occur nor is any amount of any loss from such judgment reasonably estimable at this time.

Securities Litigation

           From January 10, 2006 through February 28, 2006, six purported class action complaints have been filed against IMH and its senior officers and all but one of its directors by the following plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California: Earl Schriver, Jr. (filed January 10, 2006), Jeff Dayton (filed January 13, 2006), Joseph Mathieu (filed January 18, 2006), Fred Safir and Wilma Libar (filed January 26, 2006), Ronald Kelner (filed February 1, 2006), and Miroslav Bardos (filed February 9, 2006). The complaints, which are brought on behalf of persons who acquired IMH's common stock during the period of May 13, 2005 through August 9, 2005, allege claims against all defendants for violations under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and claims against the individual defendants for violations of Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. Plaintiffs claim that the defendants caused IMH's common stock to trade at artificially inflated prices through false and misleading statements related to the Company's financial condition and future prospects and that the individual defendants improperly sold holdings. The complaints seek compensatory damages for all damages sustained as a result of the defendants' actions, including interest, reasonable costs and expenses, and other relief as the court may deem just and proper.

           From January 27, 2006 through February 28, 2006, seven shareholder derivative actions have been filed against the Company and all of its senior officers and directors by the following parties, derivatively on behalf of nominal defendant IMH, four of which are filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California and three of which are filed in Orange County Superior Court: Green Meadows Partners, LLP (filed January 27, 2006), Louis Misarti and Anne Misarti (filed February 1, 2006), Miguel Portillo (filed February 6, 2006), Brian Dawley (filed February 14, 2006), Michael Eleftheriou (filed February 21, 2006), Henry J. Krsjak (filed February 21, 2006) and Ronald A. Gustafson (filed February 24, 2006). The actions allege claims for a shareholder derivative complaint for breach of fiduciary duties for insider selling and misappropriation of information, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, unjust enrichment and violation of California Corporations Code related to false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business and future prospects, and in the case of one complaint, related to materially deficient internal controls and illegal stock sales. The shareholder derivative actions generally seek, in favor of the Company, damages sustained as a result of the individual defendants' breach of fiduciary duties and the other causes of action, and, in the case of two derivative actions, in an amount equal to three times the difference between prices at which stock was sold and the market value at which shares would have been sold had the alleged non-public information been publicly disseminated; a constructive trust for the stock proceeds; equitable and injunctive relief; disgorgement of all profits, benefits and other compensation obtained by defendants; costs and disbursements of the action including attorneys', accountants' and experts' fees and further relief as the court deems just and proper. Furthermore, one derivative action is seeking relief directing all necessary actions to reform and improve corporate governance and internal procedures to comply with applicable law; and another derivative action includes punitive damages.

           We believe that we have meritorious defenses to the above claims and intend to defend these claims vigorously. Nevertheless, litigation is uncertain and we may not prevail in the lawsuits and can express no opinion as to their ultimate resolution. An adverse judgment in any of these matters could have a material adverse effect on us.

Other Litigation

           We are a party to other litigation and claims which are normal in the course of our operations. While the results of such other litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe the final outcome of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

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ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

           No matters were submitted to the security holders to be voted on during the fourth quarter of 2005.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

           Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "IMH."

           The following table summarizes the high, low and closing sales prices for our common stock for the periods indicated:

           On March 1, 2006, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the NYSE was $8.42 per share. As of March 1, 2006, there were 595 holders of record, including holders who are nominees for an undetermined number of beneficial owners, of our common stock.

           Common Stock Dividend Distributions.    To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we intend to make annual distributions to stockholders at an amount that maintains our REIT status in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code, which may not necessarily equal net earnings as calculated in accordance with GAAP. Our dividend policy is subject to revision at the discretion of the board of directors. All distributions in excess of those required to maintain our REIT status will be made at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on our taxable income, financial condition and other factors as the board of directors deems relevant. The board of directors has not established a minimum distribution level. Distributions to stockholders will generally be taxable as ordinary income or qualified income, which is subject to a 15% tax rate, although a portion of such distributions may be designated by us as capital gain or may constitute a tax-free return of capital. We annually furnish to each of our stockholders a statement setting forth distributions paid during the preceding year and their characterization as ordinary income, qualified income, capital gain or return of capital.

           The following table presents our common stock dividend record dates and per share dividend amounts for the quarters indicated:

           Repurchases of Common Stock.    On October 13, 2005, the board of directors approved the repurchase of up to 5.0 million shares of our common stock. No shares were repurchased during the period from October 13, 2005 through December 31, 2005.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

           The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2005 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of the year end for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2005 were derived from the audited consolidated financial statements. Such selected financial data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes to the consolidated financial statements starting on page F-1 and with Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

IMPAC MORTGAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
(amounts in thousands, except per share data)

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