One of the fastest-growing private companies has stopped funding subprime loans for mortgage brokers.

"Wholesale subprime has been ceased," John J. Owens, president and chief executive of Ameritrust Mortgage Company LLC, told MortgageDaily.com today. "However, we are in negotiations with our warehouse lenders."

He declined to give further comment.

Ameritrust was No. 416 on the 2006 annual Inc. 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country due to its three-year sales growth of 350.6 percent and 183 employees, up from spot No. 487 in the previous year's ranking.

In 2004, the company said most of its business was originated from the wholesale channel. Last year it reported that it employed 135 people.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based lender describes itself as "a nationally recognized residential mortgage company" that offers "a wide array" and "the latest in specialized products in 36 states and is expanding throughout the United States," according to its Web site.

Owens reportedly began Ameritrust in 1995 with a license to do business in the Carolinas.