Mortgage veteran sells Ameritrust to Montage Mortgage

Montage has around 50 employees, with more than 30 in Charlotte. "We intend for that operation to grow," Leslie said of Charlotte.

Owens, 48, said he continues to expand his wealth management business and Owens Management Group, a consulting firm that helps chief executives hone their corporate cultures and strategies.

The former UNC Charlotte baseball player is also the CEO of Showcase Baseball Academy, which trains aspiring college baseball players at a facility off Independence Boulevard. He's also writing a book on corporate culture.

Owens launched Ameritrust Mortgage as a subprime lender in 1995, but it stopped making these higher-rate loans in 2007 when the industry imploded. He later rebuilt the company as a prime lender.

Increased regulation is "handcuffing" small mortgage companies, Owens said. "It was time for me to just break away ... because it's a different regulatory business than it was in the past," he said.

Owens also began evaluating his priorities after his son, Nick, contracted a mysterious virus last summer that kept him hospitalized for months. He has recovered, resuming his Charlotte Christian baseball career with plans to play for N.C. State next year.

"I keep preaching passion for what you do," he said, "and I just saw that I found a new passion."

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