UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
September 3, 2009
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)
ANWORTH MORTGAGE ASSET CORPORATION
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Maryland
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(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)
001-13709 52-2059785
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(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
1299 Ocean Avenue, Second Floor, Santa Monica, California 90401
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(310) 255-4493
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(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions:
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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Item 8.01. Other Events.
This Form 8-K relates to the re-interpretation of a tax position taken
with respect to our 2008 income tax return and the subsequent effect of that
re-interpretation on the 2008 Forms 1099-DIV that were previously sent to our
stockholders.
In the third quarter 2007, Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation ("Anworth")
made a loan of approximately $42.8 million to its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Belvedere Trust Mortgage Corporation ("Belvedere Trust"). In September 2008,
Anworth deemed this loan to be uncollectible when all of the assets of Belvedere
Trust and its subsidiaries were assigned to an independent third party for the
benefit of Belvedere Trust's creditors. Based on a technical interpretation of
the tax law that we reviewed with our independent tax certified public
accountant, we believed that the amount of this loan could be taken as a bad
debt deduction in 2008 for income tax purposes and, accordingly, prepared the
Form 1099-DIV on that basis. As a result, we reported 45.379% of the 2008 common
stock dividends as "return of capital" dividends and 54.621% as "ordinary
income."
Recently, in the final preparation of our 2008 income tax return and upon
review by an independent tax advisor, we determined the earlier interpretation
to be incorrect in that there should be no bad debt deduction. As a result, we
are in the process of revising the 2008 Form 1099-DIV to report 100% of the 2008
common stock dividends as "ordinary income" and will provide them to our 2008
shareholders once they are completed. This will have no effect on our 2008
financial statements and results of operations.
Set forth below is the corrected tax information regarding our quarterly
common stock dividend distributions for 2008:
Common Stock (CUSIP 037347 10 1)
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2008
Total 2008 2008
Declaration Record Payable Distribution Ordinary Return of Long-Term
Date Date Date Per Share Income Capital Capital Gains
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4/11/08 4/30/08 5/19/08 $0.20 $0.20 $ - $ -
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7/09/08 7/23/08 8/19/08 $0.29 $0.29 $ - $ -
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10/16/08 10/31/08 11/19/08 $0.25 $0.25 $ - $ -
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12/22/08 12/31/08 1/20/09 $0.26 $0.26 $ - $ -
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Total $1.00 $1.00 $ - $ -
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The incorrectly reported tax information regarding our quarterly common
stock dividend is disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2008 and can be found on page F-22 thereof.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.
ANWORTH MORTGAGE ASSET CORPORATION
Date: September 3, 2009 By: /s/ Lloyd McAdams
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Chief Executive Officer
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