American Housing Foundation Files for Bankruptcy

Investors and lenders have been trying to force the American Housing Federation into bankruptcy since April; yesterday, the organization surprised all of them by filing for bankruptcy voluntarily.

A nonprofit organization, AHF was founded in 1989 and runs over 13,000 residential units and specializes in work force housing. Though this service has helped many low-income individuals and families secure a place to live, it, like many housing businesses today, is apparently not without controversy.

Many may recall that the Amarillo-based company had some disputed funds in question this year–”some” meaning over $38 million.

On April 1 of this year, AHF President and founder Steve Sterquell died in a car accident which was later ruled a suicide. After Sterquell’s death, investors and lenders closed in on the company quickly, filing court papers to force AHF into bankruptcy.

Apparently, Sterquell left quite a bit of this money behind to his family in a shady life insurance policy. By filing on their own, AHF hopes to end the largely public dispute, cooperate with the investigation and still maintain their properties.

“They can get control this way. It’s better than people shooting darts at you every day,” says Charles White, one of AHF’s attorneys.

It seems the company is doing what they can to settle what perhaps was the fault of a single man. This is by no means a unique situation; new cases against housing and mortgage providers, as well as their CEOs and other leaders, are being filed on nearly a daily basis.

But it’s cases like these, where–on the surface, at least–the company overall seems to have been at least trying to provide respectable, honest business for low-income, senior and student residents, that really pull at your heart. Must we condemn an entire business over one man’s mistakes?