Tuesday, May 6, 2008

This Goddamned Company Continues To Haunt Me

After taking care of my '07 taxes and getting my (unmatched) 401k contributions out of Ingham (who I always suspected were cronies of Daddy and Junior) during the past couple of months, I thought I was finally finished with ever having to deal with anything FNLC-related ever again.

Guess again.

I'm currently being subjected to a background check as I move into a new position at my current company. This morning, I was informed that the company performing the background check cannot locate any information about First NLC and cannot verify my previous employment at the company. I've been asked to provide proof by faxing my FNLC W-2 forms. As you can imagine, the idea of rummaging through my financial records and faxing personal information is not something I am comfortable with.

Fortunately, I have another card up my sleeve. Last year, when my original background check was completed, I requested my own copy of the report, which I happen to keep on hand during times like this, when I need to look up details like corporate mailing addresses and contacts in order to apply for jobs. This report has my FNLC experience confirmed, so I've referred the background checking company to their earlier work. Hopefully, that will take care of this issue.

I've worked for over a half-dozen companies in the past 15 years or so, and FNLC isn't the only one that has ceased to exist, yet they are the only one that I've ever had this kind of trouble with. A closer look at my background check reveals a possible explanation - every company has (or seems to subscribe to) some type of formalized database that provides this information. They generate a mini-report that gets rolled into my background check. Every one, that is, except for FNLC. My FNLC work history confirmation consisted of a note from FNLC HR and an explanation that FNLC doesn't provide further information.

Should it surprise any of us that FNLC "did what was required" by cutting corners and relying on manual, outdated methods to compile employee records? Of course not. This is just another example of how the company would take the easiest and cheapest path for anything that did not contribute to profits.

Well, guess what, Daddy and Junior? All of that sneaky and self-serving penny-pinching still didn't keep your asses from being kicked to the curb by FBR. Oh, I'm sure you think that you'll just ride out the storm and show up again when the market is ripe for small-minded, greedy, ignorant fools to make boatloads of money, but it's never happening for you again. Your name is mud in this industry and your reputations will be forever tarnished by your actions over the past three years, when you could have kept the ship from sinking but instead focused on moving into T. Rex, petty sibling squabbles and watching the FBR stock ticker.

I know some of you may still be looking for work, so I'd like to encourage everybody to be prepared for a similar situation, since, according to my resources, your tenure at First NLC may have never "officially" existed.

11 comments:

Been there said...

Anna, that's bizarre. Why would a company you already work for want to do a background check for a promotion? As you said they already did one when you were first hired. Weird...

Anna Nonymous said...

Probably should've explained it better - I'm moving from consultant status to full-time employee status. It's like being hired again for the first time.

Been there said...

Thanks for that clarification. Congratulations on your new position!

IseeNothing said...

FNLC is no more. Servers have been sold, the phone system has been sold. Nothing left but an almost empty building.

Chicago Mortgage Pros said...

Anna, hello how are you?
My name was mentioned on your blog for some reason. First and last name. I have never posted on here and not the person they are refering about. Is it possible to have it removed. Is it possible for me to e-mail you directly regarding this matter or vice versa?
Thanks for your help.

Anna Nonymous said...

I only communicate with people via the blog.

Chicago Mortgage Pros said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Baron Womb said...

i got a letter from the IRS this week asking for verification on income tax withheld and soc security paid. it looks as if there is some discrpency on the First NLC W2 I submitted. I had to resubmit everything to IRS again. Wondering if other folks are having this problem too??

IseeNothing said...

Party is over, building has been stripped clean, nothing left. The lights have been turned off. Landlord is looking for someone to lease the space.

IseeNothing said...

No problems here with IRS taking the fnlc W2

Unknown said...

A new business by the Henschels. Of course, no mention of the BK at all.


http://www.revupyourreturns.com/

EXECUTIVE TEAM
The business is led by Ben, Jeffrey, and Neal Henschel, each of whom brings his own unique blend of experience in mortgage originations, underwriting, document and collateral review, legal compliance, servicing, and debt collection to our clients.

Their vast experience has allowed them to participate in multiple areas within the mortgage industry and to develop a level of expertise that will be essential in delivering extra returns to RPM's clientele.

Neal Henschel. Chief Executive Officer. Neal Henschel has some thirty years of experience in the home equity business, having owned and operated a number of national mortgage companies, including two major subprime mortgage lenders that he built with his son Jeffrey. He started in the home equity business in Florida in 1977, and not long after, founded the company that was a predecessor to subprime powerhouse First NLC Financial Services, LLC. In February of 2005, when First NLC was the seventeenth largest subprime originator in the nation, Neal and Jeffrey sold the company to Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc (FBR:NYSE).

Over the years, Neal and his team have weathered the full range of market conditions, including the Long-Term Capital Management/Russian Default liquidity crisis in August of 1998 and the most recent subprime mortgage crisis of 2006-07. Neal has always been a hands-on CEO, directly involved in the decision making for credit, underwriting, operational, and secondary marketing policies, and taking active roles in loan buyback and distressed loan disposition. Over the last seven years, Neal and his team have actively managed more than $20 billion worth of mortgage originations and loan sales.

Jeffrey Henschel. Chief Operating Officer. After receiving his JD/MBA from Tulane University, Jeffrey spent two and a half years practicing in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation for one of Florida’s largest firms, Carlton, Fields et al. He started his career in mortgage lending in 1994 as Senior Vice President and Chief General Counsel of National Lending Center f/k/a The Lending Center, a national subprime mortgage originator and predecessor of First NLC. He spent ten years as President and Chief Operating Officer of First NLC and was involved in the day-to-day running of the business as well as every aspect in the development of credit policy, underwriting guidelines, and operational processes and procedures. Jeffrey was also responsible for the executive management of accounting, information technology, warehouse, human resources, legal, secondary market loan sales and loan buyback and distressed loan disposition.

Ben Henschel. President. Ben received his Bachelor’s and Juris Doctorate degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans. Prior to becoming the President of Resolution Portfolio Management & Oversight, LLC (RPM), Ben was the Director of Loss Mitigation at FIRST NLC. He also owned, managed and represented title insurance companies, as well as real estate development and brokerage companies. For more than six years, Ben has directed and negotiated investor repurchase, loss mitigation, and distressed asset purchases and sale projects—most notably global investor settlements—for our various subprime mortgage companies. He has more than 24 years of experience in negotiating and successfully consummating a variety of commercial transactions, and has repeatedly achieved successful results in maximizing the sale proceeds of clients’ repurchased and problem loan portfolios.

In 2007, Ben took on the challenge of resolving billions of dollars of repurchase, indemnity, and other claims by investors, and in response formulated persuasive and effective defense and rebuttal negotiation strategies. These defense strategies were ultimately extraordinarily successful in resolving those investor claims. As a result, in consultation with RPM team member and corporate counsel Robert Bello, Ben was able to negotiate and finalize global settlement and release arrangements with investors, thereby resolving over $8.5 Billion in mortgage loan liability.

Andrew Henschel. Vice President, Corporate Governance. After receiving his JD from Tulane University, Andrew spent three years as an assistant District Attorney in New York City, prosecuting numerous major criminal cases for the state. After moving to Florida, he served two years as a litigation associate at a large insurance defense firm in south Florida. In 1993, Andrew opened a litigation law firm in Miami, Florida, and practiced in the areas of complex civil litigation and creditor/debtor issues, including foreclosures, as well as corporate and real estate matters for First NLC. In 2004, he joined First NLC full time and headed the Corporate Governance division, with primary responsibilities in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, corporate governance issues, and legal matters relating to personnel. Andrew is licensed to practice law in Florida and New York.

Robert G. Bello. General Counsel and Loss Mitigation Specialist. At the University of Pittsburgh, Robert obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from the Honors program in 1984 and his Juris Doctorate degree in 1989. Licensed to practice in Florida, Pennsylvania and Maryland, Robert litigated hundreds of cases as a successful trial attorney for nine (9) years. He was then recruited to become the Deputy General Counsel for First NLC, where he provided broad based legal counsel to the executive and management teams for ten (10) years, prior to becoming RPM’s General Counsel.

For more than six years, Robert has worked with RPM President Ben Henschel to evaluate the liquidation and loss mitigation challenges presented by loan repurchase portfolios. As the team’s expert in Master Loan Purchase Agreements with Wall Street investors, he has drafted numerous confidentiality and distressed asset and mortgage loan purchase and sale agreements. His expertise includes resolving pre and post-sale legal claims concerning sold loan portfolios, including loan default, title, legal compliance, and fraud issues, as well as potential litigation issues raised by distressed asset purchasers. When fraud or wrong-doing has been discovered relative to a purchased or sold loan, he has directed case strategy with outside counsel to litigate the recovery of damages.

Earlier in his career Robert was also tasked with the responsibility of managing First NLC’s Loan Servicing department. During his tenure, Robert developed effective loan monitoring protocols, as well as managed collection, servicing, escrow, and borrower payment issues. Utilizing those skills with respect to distressed asset sales, Robert coordinated his efforts with Loss Mitigation Director Ben Henschel and his team to marshal material loan data for presentation to and negotiation with the ultimate loan purchasing investors.

Yona Erblat. A Business Administration major of City College of New York, Yona is a 25 year veteran of the mortgage industry. As the first employee of the initial mortgage company formed by Neal Henschel in 1987, she served in various capacities and over the years developed a substantial amount of experience and expertise in the wholesale and retail origination of prime and sub-prime loans, most notably in the areas of credit and collateral review. After serving in various senior managerial underwriting and processing roles, in 2002 she attained the position of National Credit Officer of First NLC and was responsible for managing the company’s underwriting and appraisal departments. She was the primary employee in the corporate headquarters responsible for evaluating mortgage loans and appraisals over $500,000 and had unlimited sign-off authority. Throughout her career at First NLC, Yona was the go-to person for structuring difficult or hard to place transactions.

Among her other responsibilities, she recruited, developed and trained employees in various aspects of the mortgage origination process; especially in the areas of processing, underwriting and collateral review and was also involved in the creation of processes and procedures to streamline production.


John P. Troyan. Mr. Troyan is currently acting as a consultant to RPM Oversight and in that role he assists in the acquisition of distressed portfolios as well as selling RPM’s servicer oversight and support services throughout the banking industry in Florida and U.S.

Mr. Troyan graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance. He is also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin’s Graduate School of Banking.

For the past five years, John has been a Sr. Vice President and National Sales Manager for NC Ventures Inc. in Houston, Texas, a national buyer of bank non-performing loans. He was Chairman, President, CEO and Founder of Boca Bank in Boca Raton, Florida. Previously he was Senior Loan Officer for Gulfstream Banks of Florida in Boca Raton, Florida, overseeing $400 million loan portfolio in Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Prior to coming to Florida in 1975, he as Senior Loan Officer for First National Bank in Washington, Pennsylvania and held various other positions for eleven years, except for one year leave of absence, while serving with the U.S. Army Reserves in Vietnam. Prior to this he served as an intern for two summers with the U.S. Treasury Department, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, working as a trainee examining National Banks throughout Pennsylvania.