Ellington Credit Company is structured as a closed-end management investment company rather than a traditional real estate investment trust. The entity operated for many years as a residential mortgage real estate investment trust under the name Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT, focusing primarily on agency residential mortgage-backed securities. However, the organization underwent a fundamental strategic transformation, officially changing its name and pivoting its primary investment strategy toward collateralized loan obligations, specifically targeting mezzanine debt and equity tranches. Because of this structural evolution away from direct real estate property or pure agency mortgage pools into corporate credit and broader debt instruments, it transitioned its legal and tax classification away from the traditional REIT framework into a closed-end fund format.