Mortgage Meltdown

JOEBIALEK

Until recently I was an underwriter for a sub-prime mortgage company that is about to close. It seems that most media outlets and government officials fain ignorance about the real underlying cause of the problem. There is either a tendency to blame the borrower or act as though no one in the industry {or outside of it} saw this coming. They fail to mention that those who gained the most financially got off scot free while leaving the mess behind for everyone else to clean up. In my former company, the sales managers and loan officers "held the keys to the safe" while deciding which guidelines to ignore sometimes going so far as to bribe fellow underwriters to "look the other way". Sales managers often overrode an underwriter's decision they did not agree with. Other times fellow underwriters would be threatened with their job for "impeding company growth and progress" just because they refused to go along with the flagrant disregard of guidelines . I complained to the sales managers about the bribing but all I got was a formal write-up for making "inappropriate comments".


There was absolutely no support from the owner of the company all the way to the human resource representative. This company is as corrupt as they come. I can't tell you the number of sexual affairs that occurred between married and unmarried people; primarily among the management staff {at the workplace itself}. Promotions were strictly political thus moving people "up the ladder" who never proved themselves worthy or were on a final written warning to be terminated {for poor performance}. As a result of the corrupt management of this company, I and several hundred others were laid off. I believe the federal government needs to investigate this company and bring to trial those corrupt individuals who broke the law. This would set an example for the rest of the mortgage industry that absolute corruption corrupts absolutely.

Lesbelges

I don't know if the government will do anything. I'm not sure what the consequences to the economy be if they went after all the lenders. The effects could ripple throughout the whole economy. I don't know enough to really comment, but my opinion is that they don't go after them right away because it would cause more harm than good as a whole.

Also I don't think your company made the most, the people who made the most are the hedge fund managers who took on the toxic debt. Then when their branch went bankrupt, they just closed the hedge fund down and kept the profits (and probably went to another hedge fund).

Anyway, what company do you work for?

jlew24asu

JOEBIALEK wrote:

Until recently I was an underwriter for a sub-prime mortgage company that is about to close. It seems that most media outlets and government officials fain ignorance about the real underlying cause of the problem. There is either a tendency to blame the borrower or act as though no one in the industry {or outside of it} saw this coming. They fail to mention that those who gained the most financially got off scot free while leaving the mess behind for everyone else to clean up. In my former company, the sales managers and loan officers "held the keys to the safe" while deciding which guidelines to ignore sometimes going so far as to bribe fellow underwriters to "look the other way". Sales managers often overrode an underwriter's decision they did not agree with. Other times fellow underwriters would be threatened with their job for "impeding company growth and progress" just because they refused to go along with the flagrant disregard of guidelines . I complained to the sales managers about the bribing but all I got was a formal write-up for making "inappropriate comments".


There was absolutely no support from the owner of the company all the way to the human resource representative. This company is as corrupt as they come. I can't tell you the number of sexual affairs that occurred between married and unmarried people; primarily among the management staff {at the workplace itself}. Promotions were strictly political thus moving people "up the ladder" who never proved themselves worthy or were on a final written warning to be terminated {for poor performance}. As a result of the corrupt management of this company, I and several hundred others were laid off. I believe the federal government needs to investigate this company and bring to trial those corrupt individuals who broke the law. This would set an example for the rest of the mortgage industry that absolute corruption corrupts absolutely.

great story. so um what company did you work for?

edvedder913

I would recommend contacting a lawyer rather than the PJ Message Pit.

anotherclone

I work for a title company as an escrow officer.

So, you continued to work for this company even though you knew they were doing unethical and illegal things? I really mean no disrespect to you at all, but seriously, you needed to get out of there well before these layoffs. I know the market is in the dumper and jobs are scarce, but I'd rather not have to compromise my integrity for a paycheck. I feel for you though, I know the market blows-goats right now. I guess at least now you can probably get unemployment if you are laid off.

You mention "flagrant disregard for guidelines". Do you mean company guidelines, RESPA, or Federal guidelines? Things such as lying on a loan application? Or providing fraudulent supporting documentation such as tax returns? It would appear to me that if things such as providing fraudulent tax returns or W-2's occurred, or any other RESPA violation, that is a Federal offense. If that happened, you could contact someone in the Federal capacity to let them know what has occurred.

JOEBIALEK

good points

given2fly78

JOEBIALEK wrote:

Until recently I was an underwriter for a sub-prime mortgage company that is about to close. It seems that most media outlets and government officials fain ignorance about the real underlying cause of the problem. There is either a tendency to blame the borrower or act as though no one in the industry {or outside of it} saw this coming. They fail to mention that those who gained the most financially got off scot free while leaving the mess behind for everyone else to clean up. In my former company, the sales managers and loan officers "held the keys to the safe" while deciding which guidelines to ignore sometimes going so far as to bribe fellow underwriters to "look the other way". Sales managers often overrode an underwriter's decision they did not agree with. Other times fellow underwriters would be threatened with their job for "impeding company growth and progress" just because they refused to go along with the flagrant disregard of guidelines . I complained to the sales managers about the bribing but all I got was a formal write-up for making "inappropriate comments".


There was absolutely no support from the owner of the company all the way to the human resource representative. This company is as corrupt as they come. I can't tell you the number of sexual affairs that occurred between married and unmarried people; primarily among the management staff {at the workplace itself}. Promotions were strictly political thus moving people "up the ladder" who never proved themselves worthy or were on a final written warning to be terminated {for poor performance}. As a result of the corrupt management of this company, I and several hundred others were laid off. I believe the federal government needs to investigate this company and bring to trial those corrupt individuals who broke the law. This would set an example for the rest of the mortgage industry that absolute corruption corrupts absolutely.

Well, I hate to say this but did you ever consider looking for a new position? If I worked for a company that held such low standards I wouldn't be able to work there. Especially knowing I'm putting myself and the borrowers at risk.

By staying there and collecting a paycheck, don't you think in a small way you are condoning the behavior?

Not all mortgage companies work that way. Or else there wouldn't be a real estate industry at all. I do A paper loans, never have, never will forge anything. EVER. I hold high standards, know my business and have turned many clients down due to not meeting guidelines. But work with them to turn them into buyers and HELP them become ready to buy a home in due time.

As a matter of fact, knowing that there are subprime loans out there, I never even refered my clients to a subprime lender because I knew the trouble it would eventually lead them into. If they found it on their own - fine. But I like to sleep at night too. As far as I was concerned - if you can't pay your bills now, what makes you think you can get into a mortgage and keep it clean for 2 years to refinance? Or depend on equity to get OUT of the subprime to refinance? Too risky.

But the borrowers DO have some responsibility. What seems too good to be true usually is. They get 2 sets of docs to read. Once at application and once at closing. It says FIXED or ADJUSTABLE. They know what their credit is like. They know the risk (or should). And if they don't...well, ignorance is bliss and guess what, it bit them in the a$$ and people that have good credit and pay their bills on time get dogged once again.

And, I'm not saying that these companies have no responsibility. They do. And they never should have been in business to begin with. Predatory lending. But there are people out there that WANT and WANT and WANT at any cost. The American Dream. To keep up with the Jonses. It's a sickness. And look what it's done to our economy.

But you can't place the blame on just one place. That's not right. I love my job, I think I'm the most fortunate person to have found a job that I love and am great at. Sure, I get tired of the constant phone calls and the fact that I rarely get any personal time, but I chose this profession and hope that I can continue doing this until the day comes that I retire. And I'm sure then, I'll miss it.

I'm sorry you lost your job. So many people are out of work and that sucks. I've heard of many people getting blackballed because of being in the mortgage profession. I hope this doesn't happen to you. But, maybe you should have taken some personal responsibility for your own professional standards and gotten out before this happened to you.