It's all over. Daddy's and Junior's assets are being liquidated. FBR has declared bankruptcy on its subprime mortgage operations. The deal with Sun won't be closed.
Hey Junior - can't wait to see your resume! If you and Daddy mishandled your personal finances as badly as your business finances, we'll be seeing you in the unemployment line soon enough.
And yeah - I bet you WOULD file for unemployment.
Finally, this three-ring circus has been shut down as the clowns have been kicked to the curb.
HAH HAH HAH!!!
Loads of links:
At last, FBR did "what was required" and cut this sorry company loose. Good-bye and good riddance.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
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26 comments:
I am very sadden by this event. As a former FNLC employee, I have great respect for Jeff and Neal. They are generous and care deeply for the employees.
The company went down due to the tough market conditions. Look at New Century, Option One, Countrywide and many others.
I understand many good people have lost their jobs and some are very bitter about it. What would you do if you were Jeff and Neal? You would do your best to hang on and hopefully turn things around for your employees'sake.
Please take a moment to wish everybody the best. We can all move all with our lives.
Jeff, Neal - Thank you for everything. You tried your best.
Sincerely yours,
A grateful former employee.
Reading a lot of these posts reminds me of the people I worked with that always blame their performance on the company rather than their own lack of effort.
I started at this company from the bottom and was able to work my way up pretty fast. No one gave me anything but great training and leadership. The ball was finally in my court and it was up to me to make the best of it. Unlike these people that are crying over overtime pay, I stayed late and even wanted to come in on Saturdays. This company allowed me to be the best and make a six figure salary my first year. My 2nd year I was able to double that. I was able to do this while providing exceptional service. Don't blame the whole company for one rotten egg. Wise LOs knew all the programs available. We designed programs where our client's fit best. DICE (Debt Income Credit Equity) That's the formula. My customers never complained and infact sent me plenty of refferals to keep me going.
This was a great company with great opportunities. I have met the most talented, professional business people out there. I wish everyone nothing but the best in their future endeavors.
Sincerely yours,
Another grateful former employee,
I hope this post doesn't get deleted like most of the other positive NLC posts.
Hey svniu - sounds like you were in sales, right? You weren't ELIGIBLE for overtime. You were working for commissions. Where were you when we tried to push management to go to Alt-A before the subprime market completely collapsed? How many of the programs you designed to fit clients best ended up in defaults within a year?
I'm glad you folks got you wanted at the company. For the record, I was paid quite well to do my job and never had any issue with compensation.
My issue all along has been the way management treated workers during the past couple of years. It's been well-documented that these guys tried to bypass the WARN Act, put their own egoes above the wellfare of their employees by going ahead with T Rex, lied about the status of the company with their "doing what is required" rhetoric and engaged in extremely questionable ethics regarding layoffs.
Yes I started out in sales, and yes I worked for commission. I however was not one of those people to sign up for the overtime lawsuit. I know people that are receiving thousands of dollars from the lawsuit. What everyone should know is that those are the same people that never cared about their job, never cared about their clients and the future of those clients. Those are the people that never called their clients back after appraisals came back short or they had questions regarding their loan. Same people that would walk in late and leave early and call in sick every Friday and think the company owes them money for ovetime. Great idea, let's reward the people that help put out industry in the stage where it is now.
Anna, it's all over now, can you tell us what position you held at First NLC?
I'm glad you are very concerned about my clients well being. I should tell you than, the number is 0. Building customer relations and looking out for their well being is my personal business model and priority #1. This is the way I was trained at FNLC and this is the way I trained my employees. I have refinanced plenty of people with poor scores, lates, and credit card debt. Goal is to turn a subprime borrower into a prime one. I have done that many times but paying off their debt, minimizing their monthly obligation and refinance them again 1-2 years later utilizing our conforming products.
At the same time I will mention that everyone has the right to their own cash out, if they did not wish for me to make checks payable to their creditors but rather handle it themselves, I had to oblige by their wishes and only advise them to make sure they get paid off. There were clients that ended up spending that money on big screens tvs and bigger rims on their cars rathern than fixing up their house and paying off debt. I can't help if they did not take my advice. I can't help that they were right back when we started. They did not lose their house but to this day continue to live check to check with their back against the wall, I should know. I still have contact with them even though I do not work at FNLC any longer.
You can complain that it's the management that's getting in the way of your performance or the company lied to you.
I tell you one thing, I was on both side of the spectrum, the sales and management and we have went through many changes as branch, as an area, and as a company. As the industry changed, we changed and that was necessary to stay on point, but at no point was there ever a time that someone from upper management has lied to me about the state of the company. It doesn't take a genies to figure out when the company is not doing great. You got funding reports every day. There was a time when best branch did 15 million, last 6 months I think highest was 1.2 mil. You don't need Jeff Neal or Tim Walsh to tell you that the company is in trouble.
I was fortunate to have gained great knowledge and experience from my employees and management and for that I will forever be grateful.
Thanks,
Hey - good for you.
Personally, I came out fine after being unceremoniously dumped by NLC. I make more money. I have more free time. My commute is shorter. I don't have to take orders based on the petty and half-assed whims of upper management.
However, there are plenty of people who were treated unfairly when the shit hit the fan at FNLC, and that is something that I do not forgive and will not forget.
As for the overtime thing, I've always believed that if you work hard and are productive for 40 hours a week and that isn't enough on a consistent basis, the problem lies with the organization, and not you. Hire more people. PAY OVERTIME. Whatever.
Life's too short and it can truly be a rat race at times. To not be compensated for the few hours of leisure taken away from you during the workweek or during your free time and to chalk that up to "doing what is required" is BS - especially when it comes from the mouth of somebody more interested in afternoon naps, T Rex and watching the stock ticker than trying to save a company.
I am glad you are in much better place now, any chance of you revealing your identity. Curious to see if we have worked together in the past.
We didn't work together - I could give you my full name and job title, and I doubt more than 2% of the company would even recognize me or know what I did there.
The folks I used to work with know who I am. Basically, if you knew me at the company, you know I'm doing this blog because I've told you.
Hey svniu:
Why don't you provide your real name before you call someone else out?
Typical management apologist, blame the workers for senior management's shortsightedness, greed and incompetence. So what about "market conditions?" The geniuses who ran NLC should have seen that coming and prepared in advance instead of thinking they could keep expanding forever.
It's called being proactive as opposed to being reactive. And bite me with your "I worked my way up" bogus story. I was there more than long enough to know that NO ONE ever got anywhere in that place whose last name wasn't Henschel or who wasn't one of their personal favorites.
Do you think Bernice would have lasted 11 years and gotten away with being so abusive with people while being only a secretary if she wasn't tied to the Henschels?
And she was by no means the exception.
And as I've said before, having ten rounds of layoffs is bad enough, but telling peoiple each time "this is the last one, we're OK now?"
You're probably Jeff or one of the other spoiled Henschel kids anyway, none of whom could get a job at Wal-mart if you had different last names.
All First NLC employees were to blame for the collapse. I serviced First NLC for there title work and closed at least 70 deals a month with several of their branches. A lot of fraud was conducted there and 90% of it was started by the LO's originating the loans. The branches were cutting and pasting all day long and never thought about the long term effects it would have on the company. How can you blame the owners because they did not condone cheating. I know alot of people didn't participate in this BS but what did you do to sop it? Nothing you processed the BS loans and kept you mouths shut. To SVNIU, changing you underwriters closing instructions during the recission period is not the right thing to do just because the borrower wants the cash. If you underwriter wanted the debt paid off then that is the way the loan should be closed. I would close many loans with debt being paid off only to have new instructions sent over to my title office from the branch that gave the cash to the borrower instead. That my friend is fraud. One last note...First NLC did not produce the most professional LO's in the industry so quit patting yourself on the back.
Mike and company, I just have to set you straight on a few things. First of all FNLC did not produce the brightest LO's by choice. Once retail operations started in Anaheim branch managers were only hired and kept if they were willing to teach their LO's how to commit fraud and do whatever they could to get a loan through. Those of us that had a problem with Anaheim making up their own comforming guidelines (regardless of DU approval) so that they could put everything into subprime were ignored and pushed out in favor of ex-Ameriquest type LO's who were recruited for branch and district manager positions. I never allowed cutting and pasting and or fraud in my branch which is why our numbers were not as high as some branches because I am proud to say that we were honest and ethical. I am also proud to say that I left before the company went completely out of control. Do not kid yourselves that LO's had control, anything that happened at the branch level was the sole responsability of the branch managers and their boss's. If they didnt want such things to go on they wouldnt have. LO's are not smart enough to think of these things theirselves or to let it go on without getting caught by the processors or management!
Frmr fnlc,
I am glad to hear that you ran a branch that was doing right things. In retrospect to my comments I was being short minded by blaming all branches for the down fall. The branches I am referring to did recruit all former Ameriquest managment and LO's that were the ones cutting and pasting just like they did at Ameriquest. I wish I would have had the opportunity to work with more branches like yours at FNLC. I honestly think that the company was set up for success but doomed by bad middle management and LO's. Its too bad they chose to recruit and keep all the bad apples. The managers at the branches I worked with seemed to turn their head and did not want to know about the fraud going on. In fact they would simply ask me to waive exceptions on titles in order to get the deals closed. Well good luck to you in the near future
To XNLCer:
Not sure what forum you were reading but when did I call out Anna? I believe I was respectful. Anna please let me know if I offended you in any way, those are not my intentions on this post but rather to share my own personal experiences with the company wether every one here agrees with them or not.
I blamed the workers for senior management's shortsightedness XNLCer? Please tell me where I said that before you start firing away. The only workers I mentioned were the ones that consistently showed up late and in result provided poor customer service. And just so happens that majority of the people receiving the settlment will be those same people. Those people did not last long in my branch.
Again, I made comments about my branch and my own experience at NLC. I ran my branch like it was my own business. I have no knowlege nor am I responsible for what someone in NJ or AZ or any other state was doing, my job was to run my branch to the best of its ability. I should mention that we were audited numerous times by NLC, FBR and even by the state a few times and have received 100% each time.
XNLCer, I am not sure what you want my name for but it's for good intentions I will be more than happy to share it with you.
Another thing is yes, I worked my way up.
When you graduate college in May 04, start at the bottom of the barrell and by that same time next year you are making six figures, I believe you are on your way to the top.
First NLC was not perfect but one of the many great things they did for their employees was PROMOTE FROM WITHIN, if you were a team player and worked your butt off you don't have to worry about someone from another company coming in and taking your spot.
That was all I needed to know to get to where I did.
Hey Mike:
Quick story,
My first month on the job, a guy sitting next to me, smart kid, top producer was called into my managers office. Was fired on the spot. You know why, accused of forging a W-2 that a customer provided him with. He denied it, simply said that it was what the cusomer provided, but we will never know. My manager came out and told everyone that there will be 0 tolerance for fraud. That is how I was trained and that is how I trained my guys, so if you can prove otherwise I don't want to hear it.
You said "To SVNIU, changing you underwriters closing instructions during the recission period is not the right thing to do just because the borrower wants the cash. That my friend is fraud."
Before you start accusing me of fraud, please tell me where I said I did this or allowed it to happen. I wish people would read posts first before replying, we would not have to keep repeating ourselves.
What I specifically said was that if a cusomer wanted cash out and their dti allowed it without paying anything off. They have the right to do what they wish with their money. I can only advise them and follow up. If the file was approved and there was benefit to the customer only if we paid off debt than it's up to the customer to either accept the loan or just walk. Again my job would be to advise them and follow up. I am not sure what you are talking about with changing instructions. Every title company we worked with only accepted instructions from the UW directly never from LOs or managers.
You did NLC's Title work?
Wow you must have worked at Chop Shop Title.
If this really happend, why did you not let the management at your title company know if this behavior. You were probably too busy cashing your checks with that 70 loans per month. That must have paid really well. Now you feel guilty and have to blame me and everyone else for your own actions, or should we say the lack of. Sleep well my friend, sleep well.
To SVNIU,
I am sleeping well...maybe its because am I still pulling in over 150k a year in a slow market. Shut up you cry baby. We are far from a chop shop title company...hmmm maybe thats why we are still in business unlike you beloved FNLC. You aonly worked in retail because you are a weak LO and needed somebody to hand you leads to call. FYI I also originate loans part time and close at least 2 deals a month. You probably couldn't hit those numbers working full time as an LO. Whatever loser late!!
Wow Mike, you sound like a mature professional. I'm trying to have a civilized debate and your best response is "Whatever loser late". I can't belive someone even gave you a job, figures the only place that would is a chop shop title. It isn't like you told us the real name of the Title company. Get over it, you are just a rep. You guys would line up 10 at a time to bring me cookies just to get one deal. You are probably mad because I would not do business with you and your bs company if you paid me to use your title. You are nothing more than a pezant. I would not hire you to shine my shoes. Don't even put yourself on my level. For your information more than 50% of my business was made on referrals. Since First NLC, I have started my own mortgage company while you are still a puppy on a string. You probably weren't hugged enough as a kid and are a pillow biter as a result. Kick rocks.
SVNIU,
FYI I am a partner in a title company but its not important because I am not into job titles. Not to mention that I also have a stake in a mortgage company. I don't need to bring all my clients cookies and because I have set up partnerships with all of them. I did start out as a rep though and it was a great experience and not to mention alot of partying with all the brokers. Dude grow up with the comments about my childhood. My parents spoiled me and gave me everything I ever asked for. Thats right I was spoiled and I still always get what I want. I maybe work 4 hours a day and still bank. Its a rough life...Late!!!
svniu, you said:
"And just so happens that majority of the people receiving the settlement will be those same people. Those people did not last long in my branch."
That's just your ignorant, baseless opinion, nothing more. Every branch went through LO's like a knife through water. That college education of yours didn't give you any thinking ability, did it?
"Pezant?"
Didn't teach you how to write either LMAO!!!!
I worked right out of college for FIRST NLC but didn't plan on staying long, just something to do until I found something I liked. I discovered many sleazy things about many involved. First NLC was a telemarketing company who did not treat lower level employees well at all. I was sort of embarrassed to get the job considering I had a great degree and there were people who had no qualifications or experience, but just knew how to use a telephone. There are many things wrong, I don't feel like listing them. Nor do I really care, but it sucks when someone can defend them. I work for a bank now, and now that I underwrite and lend the right way and have learned it the right way, it has put light on the fact that first nlc is a telemarketing lender. LO's are people calling and matching up numbers like a puzzle or something, not truly underwriting. I never met anyone who had any real financial knowledge or expertise while working briefly at a LO center.
After speaking with numerous ex-employees of the NAPERVILLE branch, I don't know anyone (atleast in Illinois) who can argue that this is a legit company. I don't even bother saying I worked there, because it has such a bad reputation. The lawsuits and criminal investigations can be a testiment to this.
Now that I work in the REAL business world, and not a pyramid scheme/telemarketing company, it is refreshing. Thank god I got out and got a real job that actually requires knowledge and experience.
I wasn't a branch employee - I worked in corporate. Most of my issues with the company were from that viewpoint.
Once I was firmly entrenched in the company, I began witnessing increasingly disturbing behavior by management. These people were never qualified to run a company as big as FNLC got during the years that the subprime industry grew. They should have stayed within their limits, managing a "mom and pop" shop.
Greediness, however, often gets in the way of reality checks and honest assessments. It didn't take long for FNLC to become too large for management to effectively control.
From a technical perspective, the company was being run 10 years behind the curve. Even in the best of times, the organization was slow to react to changing climates: nobody could make a decision without having to run it all the way up to the top. The company's east coast bias was comical, considering the cash was being made out west. By the time a ratesheet was finally ok'd, it was already outdated.
What's intriguing to me is that this blog has shed some light on the nonsense that was happening at the branch level. We always assumed there were shenanigans going on, but never to this extent.
Mike, so you mention that you did Title work on 70 loans per month for First NLC. You complain that they were supposebly fraudulent. Now come find out you are a partner at this company and bragging about how much money you make. Coward, you turn a blind eye when it fills your pocket but as soon as that pipe is dry all of a sudden you are concerned. You got the odesity to come on this post and question my integrity??? Listen, I wish you all the success you can earn, I don't care if you make a mil a year but we will never share the same work ethic. Money doesn't make a man, tell your gf how cool you are no one gives a $%!(.
XNLCer:
I am really beginning to question your intelligence. I have honestly had better debates with a pencil sharpener than I have with you.
You said "That's just your ignorant, baseless opinion, nothing more. Every branch went through LO's like a knife through water."
It is not an opinion, it's a fact. I made a lot of friends at NLC and wether I liked to work with them or not I still maintain contact with all of them. I know what each of them are getting and it's an absolute joke. Quite frankly, they tell me that can't believe it themselves. All they do is bragg how they did nothing and now are getting 10+k. You're probably one of these freeloaders.
Your name must me Donna L cause you seem to know about all the hiring and firing in the whole company. You are too dumb to understand that Sales in general has the highest turnover period. Yes we had some turn over over time, but by no means it was an open door. You can not base what happend in your branch or even area over the whole company.
I may have slept through Peasantonomy in college but at least like youself it is not part of my daily life. Good luck on finals, Kick Rocks.
Comical to say the least...
First NLC was exactly what you made of it. You could have conducted business the right way or the wrong way. There were never any times, in my 3 years with the company, that someone held a gun to my head and forced me to do something I didn't want to do.
While I agree that management could have done a better job in introducing more modern programs earlier than the last month of our existance, I understand that the company was built as a "subprime" organization and really did not have the people involved in the company to make changes they were not experienced in.
There were a lot of questionable decisions upper management made based on our market positioning. First NLC expanded way to rapidly because of the cash flow that was coming in. We could afford to have "experimental branches", just based on profits alone. This was not true the last year or so of operations... and First NLC took wayyy too long to cut ties with these lame duck branches.
Our branches in the Chicagoland area were always productive and provided the company with a backbone for years. It's unfortunate that things had to pan out the way they did, but things happen for a reason. The experience loan officers will move on to much better things... the guys just going through the motions will have an awakening when their saftey net (the small base we had) is gone.
SVNIU shut the f**k up you crybaby. You are still a rookie LO that wants to be a player but the problem is your still on the bench. I thinks its time for you to close your little net branch because it doesn't produce a damn thing. Let me guess you have about 4-6 guys working for you and all of them used to work for FNLC. Gimme a break dude. I am on a totally different level than you. First of all the job of the title company is to insure the new lender is in 1st lien position and follow the lenders closing instruction thats it dumbass. I have nothing to do with the terms of the loan. So no fraud was done on my part. Anyway kid you have wasted enough of my time. Late!
Mike AKA Mikey B?
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