NEW YORK -- American Home Mortgage Investment Corp, a struggling mortgage lender, said Tuesday it can no longer provide funding for home loans and has hired advisers to explore options, including a possible "orderly liquidation of its assets."

The Melville, New York-based real estate investment trust is one of the largest U.S. lenders to struggle with a U.S. housing slump that has caused home prices to stall, borrowing costs to rise and defaults to soar.

American Home shares closed Friday at $10.47. They have not traded since trading was halted Monday morning.

Spokeswoman Mary Feder did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. Her telephone mailbox was not accepting messages.

In a statement, American Home said it was unable to fund $300 million of loans Monday and did not expect to fund $450 million to $500 million Tuesday.

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It also said it cannot borrow from its credit facilities and has "substantial" unpaid margin calls pending to lenders, even after meeting "very significant" calls in the last three weeks.

American Home retained Milestone Advisors and Lazard to help it evaluate strategic options and advise on sources of possible additional liquidity.

American Home has specialized in prime and near-prime loans. It has, however, made many loans that allow borrowers to produce little documentation of income or assets. It recently commanded about 2.5 percent of the U.S. mortgage market.

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