Subprime mortgages totaled US$600 billion in 2006, accounting for about one-fifth of the U.S. home loan market. As with many subprime mortgage lenders, AFM experienced financial difficulties in 2006 due to repurchase demands from investors and diminished funding capacity because of an increase in non-performing loans. In August 2006, AFM held an auction at its corporate headquarters to sell its assets. In February 2007, HSBC Mortgage Services, Inc. commenced litigation against AFM in the Northern District of Illinois based on assigned loans that resulted in early payment defaults, a repurchase event pursuant to the governing loan purchase agreement. Court documents indicate Countrywide Financial Corporation was also demanding repurchase of some loans it purchased from AFM. In March 2007, "The Wall Street Journal" reported many lenders, including HSBC Mortgage Services and Countrywide, were demanding AFM repurchase loans pursuant to repurchase provisions contained in loan purchase agreements. AFM's financial difficulties were exacerbated by advertising commitments that exceeded the company's ability to meet. David Hal Burch, Tamara Burch's husband, was the director of marketing for AFM and responsible for AFM's advertising campaigns.