Maybe in hindsight giving $700,000 mortgages to $8/hour strawberry pickers was a bad idea.... American Home Mortgage Shares Plunge Tuesday July 31, 2:07 pm ET American Home Mortgage Shares Plummet After Trading Resumes Following Liquidity Comments NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. plunged Tuesday after a halt on trading was lifted. Shares fell $8.47 or 80.1 percent, to $1.95. The Melville, N.Y.-based lender's stock did not trade on Monday because of pending news. The halt was lifted at about 2:05 p.m. after the company released a statement that said it is facing a liquidity crunch and is trying to resolve its credit issues. The company said it hired advisers to help it evaluate options, including a liquidation of its assets, after lenders began calling loans and it was unable to pay off debt or borrow on its credit lines on Monday. The company also said it can't fund lending obligations of about $300 million. Late Friday, American Home Mortgage Investment said it would not pay the 70 cent-per-share dividend scheduled to be paid that day. Some of the company's financial backers want their money back because American Home Mortgage's investment portfolio has lost so much value. The lender said it needs to keep its cash until the company gains a better grasp of how bad conditions in the mortgage market are going to become. Those conditions include more missed payments on home loans, sagging home prices and less cash available to lenders. At least three analysts downgraded American Home Mortgage's stock on Monday. A suspended dividend is particularly significant because American Home Mortgage Investment is classified as a real estate investment trust, meaning instead of paying taxes it distributes 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders through dividends.