CFI Mortgage Inc. (fka CFIM)

[Kama]

Tidalwave Buys Servicing Platform & Purchases $100 Million Mortgage Servicing Portfolio

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Tidalwave Holdings Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: TDWV - news)announced the acquisition of the assets of Seasons Mortgage Group, Inc. (SMG) a national servicing platform company based in Richmond, Virginia and with it a $100 million plus Mortgage Servicing Portfolio.

The SMG Servicing Platform serviced in excess of $2.3 billion in conforming, Jumbo, FHA, VA, and SBA guaranteed loans
during fiscal 2000, and while the servicing platform was acquired intact by Tidalwave, just over $100 million in sub-servicing
contracts were acquired in the transaction.

SMG's two major shareholders, President Raymond ``Buddy'' Sanders and Senior Vice President Ruth Hipp assumed the titles of Executive Vice President - Servicing Operations and Senior Vice President - Servicing Operations for Tidalwave's First American Mortgage Securities subsidiary. It is anticipated that all of the current employees will be retained. Sanders was named to the executive committee of Tidalwave's First American Mortgage Securities Division.

First American Mortgage Securities Managing Director, L. Edward Bache, Sr. stated, ``The SMG acquisition completes a
major piece of the FAMS puzzle, as it allows FAMS to retain servicing on both institutional private placements and mortgage
backed security issues, where the company plans to utilize credit enhancement to achieve an 'Investment' rating.''

Bache continued, ``Accordingly, the Tidalwave/FAMS business model will be expanded to include entering markets that were not available without the ability to retain servicing. FAMS is very active in the agency enhanced ''Alt A`` market, and has several proprietary mortgage programs that were developed in conjunction with major private mortgage insurance companies, investment bankers and pool insurers. By maintaining the servicing FAMS will insure a constant and ongoing revenue stream in addition to fee income.''

Tidalwave's Servicing Platform acquisition follows two recent major announcements where Tidalwave announced the execution of letters of intent to acquire the subprime mortgage origination platform of Virginia based ``AFR Funding,'' and to enter into a joint venture to form ``First American Capital Markets Group''(FACMG) with publicly traded CFI Mortgage, Inc. (Symbol:CFIM). Following further due diligence the ``AFR Funding'' acquisition and the FACMG joint venture are anticipated to close within the next 30 days.

Once completed, FACMG will operate a national ``Alt A'' mortgage conduit that will be based in Clearwater, Florida on the
3rd and 5th floors of the Suntrust Bank Building. The FACMG Conduit is expected to be a key ``mortgage feeder'' for the new
servicing operation.

Bache continued, ``We are currently redesigning our business model around originating retail and wholesale mortgages that can be securitized with the company retaining the servicing rights for the life of the loan. Our product matrix will continue to feature high profit ''niche`` loans including loans secured by manufactured housing, rural acreage, waterfront homes, loans that just miss agency guidelines, and proprietary loans that meet FAMS's Agency Enhanced guidelines where FAMS utilizes a combination of self insurance, PMI and pool insurance in developing FAMS's exclusive programs.''

Tidalwave's President Leon Kline stated, ``The company expects to announce several key developments relating to new
mortgage programs that are being designed around FAMS's new servicing capabilities, including plans for an 'investment grade' mortgage backed securities issue in the immediate future, that will utilize credit enhancement for its 'Investment' rating and where FAMS will keep the loans in its new servicing portfolio.''

Kline continued, ``FAMS has in the past been very active in bidding loans on the national automated trading systems and will now seek to add additional traders to it's trading desk and in the field, who will be seeking to bid on loans that meet FAMS securitization and institutional private placement guidelines, and who will make markets on both the buy and the sell side for both whole loans and mortgage backed securities''.

In addition, Kline added, ``Knowing that SMG had built its loan portfolio into the billions, and learning that we could acquire
the company with the servicing platform intact and over $100 million in servicing and keep all of the employees and
management was a dream come true for Tidalwave/FAMS.'' SMG needed a loan origination platform to maximize its potential as a mortgage servicing platform, and with it's experienced employees and management team, it's current book of business, and the Tidalwave's immediate ability to scale the operation in line with the growth being realized by FAMS was just too good of an opportunity for both SMG and Tidalwave/FAMS to pass up.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this new
release are forward- looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the
Company's actual results in the future periods to differ materially from forecasted results.

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SOURCE: Tidalwave Holdings Inc.

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