Careers vanish after subprime 'free fall'
Kent and Mysti Cope were well-paid executives at subprime lenders who never thought the industry could disappear overnight. Now they're just trying to get by.
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (CNNMoney.com) -- Kent and Mysti Cope met and fell in love working for one of the nation's top subprime lenders. Now, their life has been turned upside down after the sudden implosion of the subprime mortgage industry.
Mysti was one of the last people out the door at New Century Financial, once the nation's No. 2 subprime lender. She had been in charge of e-commerce customer service with dozens of employees reporting to her. It was at New Century where the Copes met in 2000.
Kent worked for several of the firms that helped give birth to the industry, which specializes in making loans to people with less-than-perfect credit, in the 1990s. He has been out of work since August when he was laid off by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (FBR) unit First NLC Financial Services.
"We're still both in shock that it could go from something so good to so bad so quick," said Kent, 59. "New Century in 60 days went from top of the heap to out of business."
The two didn't say exactly how much money they made at their last jobs but Kent admitted they each had six-figure incomes.
Today, they're trying to get by on his unemployment benefits of about $450 a week, which covers only about an eighth of the basic payments they owe every month.
Full article:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/31/news/economy/copes/index.htm?postversion=2008033105
Monday, March 31, 2008
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21 comments:
Sorry Kent, but I have no sympathy for you.
You were a horrible, spoiled Prima Dona to deal with. All you ever did was bi*ch, complain and demand.
Never, ever even one word of thanks, much less deed for all the "junior" people you treated like dirt.
Eat s**t and die and then rot in hell, you pr**k!
Wow fnlcexer, I hope you feel better now that you've got that off your chest! LOL
Poor Kent. I hope they at least paid him something to participate in this story! :) Unlike fnlcexer, I don't hate Kent. I agree that he wasn't the most effective sales leader in the world, but then again, it's not like he had any great role models to learn from - the Henschels, that Larin a*hole, Brigman. But he was a nice enough guy, and now, like many of us, he's just trying to support his family. I hope he doesn't have to sell that nice home of his...
I hope they lose everything
They may very well lose everything. Kent is 59 years old, he has over $10K a month in debts, his wife is out of work too, and from what I remember he has suffered a few heart attacks (or at least a heart condition) already. Not exactly the place I woulld want to be in at 59.Kind of sad that it says they burned through all their 401Ks and everything. With all the money they made, you would have think they saved some of it, right??
mistermiracle:
Poor Kent?
Oh he's so poor isn't he? He might actually have to sell his California beach front house to survive?
The horror, the horror!
Oh, the inhumanity of it all!
It's not like he was one of us at corporate who didn't even see cost of living raises in three years, the poor, misfortunate thing!
I hope that basta*rd dies of a heart attack ASAP!
Yikes!! LOL! You guys are nasty! I hope I never have anyone despise me as much! I was on the sales side so I'm pretty much used to fending for myself. But you're right, the corporate folks totally got scr*wed at FNLC. It did just occur to me that the Copes were an awkward choice for a CNN Money article. I mean, here they're profiling 2 people that were executives in prominent subprime mortgge companies and made boatloads of money throughout the years - as evidenced by the Corvette and Orange County beach home! And now they are being painted as a sob-story on CNN?? You guys have convinced me! I don't feel sorry for him anymore. Why didn't CNN do a cover story of the poor Hispanic family that was duped into getting a $600,000 subprime mortgage and now they are living in a van down by the river eating Government cheese!! I guess the Copes more closely resemble CNN Money's demographic and are a poster family for "it could happen to you one day!!" I wonder how CNN got hold of Kent in the first place??
But at the same time, while I no longer feel sorry for him, I don't wish Kent to die of a heart attack. (Heck, I don't even wish that of Neal any more!) That's just too cruel. But there is an old biblical saying, "you reap what you sow." It must be hard enough on Kent to keep his 20 years younger wife happy in their California lifestyle. What is the cost of Viagra these days, anyways! LOL :)
Hard to feel sorry for so many of the clowns in this business that made tons of money without saving any of it while continuing to live beyond their means.
Many of the people who were duping immigrant families into taking on $600K loans were living with a $10,000 monthly mortgage themselves.
Mr. Miracle will gaze into his crystal ball and forecast one of the many scenarios now facing the Copes:
- In a scene out of "Oceans 11", Kent gets his old crew together for one last mortgage "heist". They get seed money from Sun Capital and some investors they found on LenderImplode.com The new firm opens their doors under the name Larin, Cope, Obermeyer and Fuentes Lending.
- Gradually losing respect for her husband's inability to pay the bills, Mysti begins an affair with a former New Century colleague who is now the #1 used car salesman in Temeculah
- While on a trip to Knott's Berry Farm, the youngest member of the Cope family gets his first taste of beer from some teenage thugs. The beer feels good on his lips. Six months later, he is experimenting with home made crystal meth
- The new lending firm folds after only 3 weeks in business when founding member Larin embezzles all the start up cash
- Citing his step-father's "horsesh*t" and the fact that they can't afford to buy him a Nintendo Wii for his bday, the younger member runs away from home. Authorities later learn he is living in Santa Monica with an older gentlemen named Mr. Jimmy
- The Copes are forced to sell their ocean front home and declare bankruptcy
- Mysti leaves Kent and moves in with her new lover. Together they move into a duplex in Yorba Linda
- Despondent, Kent takes his last $100 and buys some Viagra and heads to a local strip club. A raven haired beauty gives him the lap dance of his life. When he asks her name, she says it is "Misty".
- This is too much for poor Kent and his heart gives out. Somewhere across the country, fnlcexer, bill and ex-nlcer feel a twitch that something they wished for just came true!
OK Folks,
I shouldn't be wishing death on anyone, so sorry about that. But everything else I said about Mr. Cope is 150% true. Ditto for most of FNLC senior management. My entire group, including my supervisor, were the Rodney Dangerfields of corporate. All we ever heard was constant bitch**g, moaning, griping, I want and I want it now. And our spineless, gutless CIO was as useless as a third nipple. Never ceases to amaze me how individuals such as Cope and Brigman with such piss poor people skills ever got where they were.
Totally true and I agree with you. Brigman got to where he was because like so many of the other old time management team, the henschels were loyal to him and because he didn't take a stand or speak out or make decisions he was easy to control and therefore perfect for the micro managment style of neal and jeff.
Kent was on the short list many times to be let go from the company when the west coast didn't perform. His boss, mr larin, lliked the fact that kent was easy to kick around and control because he had no where else to go -much like the rest of his west coast mangement team.
It looks like they were right about kent's capabilities, since judging from this article, he's having a hard time getting a job now! I would think someone with suuperior sales management skillsl could transfer that to a senior position in another industry, no?
just my opinion....
It is really sad to read the comments on this blog . . . no one is perfect and we all make mistakes and do things that when we look back we are not proud of . . . the bible says it is not for mankind to judge but yet most of you seem to convict. . . it would be interesting to know how many authors on this blog have skeletons in their closet. Maybe one day you will understand the words forgiveness and compassion. It is not for us to judge others but to create one's own journey . . . move on and live your own life . . . or is it that your lives are so empty that you would rather comment about someone else's life.
The buildings gone,
the people have moved on.
The Last NLC blog remains.
A tribute to subprime.
to movedon...
why do you keep visiting this site if it disgusts you so much? could it be that you are one of the former management team and it irks you to no end tohear about what your former employees truthfully thought about you?? or are you just prowling to make sure no one says anything bad about you??
i just looked at the odler pages and this blog has been around since april of last year so I think it has been at least one year this blog has been aroudn and people keep coming to it. I take that to mean that the blog is serving some kind of purpose, no?
this company and hte subprime industry hurt a lot of people. Having an outlet to vent and to expose behavior so that others don't make the same mistakes again is healthy, no?
so have you yourself really moved on, movedon??
just my opinion...
A culture that does not relect on history is doomed to repeat it.
I for one and thankful for this blog which is my subprime souvenir.
I am also greatful for this blog, as it has provided me with much entertainment, as well as valuable information! Hell, even in his CNN article, Kent mentions that he regularly visited ML Implode.com to see what the status of FNLC was since the Henschels wouldn't tell him anything!
Anna Nonymous, what are your plans for this blog? Are you going to keep it going even though FNLC is gone? I think you should keep it alive as long as people keep coming to it. Maybe it can be a warning bell for when the former FNLC exec team starts another company again.
I think one thing folks coming to this blog have to understand is that corporate leaders and people who talk to the press (the Copes) give up elements of their private life and become public when information is available online. That is the future of the web and social blog sites like this are the new "freedom of the press" where users get to have their say.
I was recently on one of the Yahoo finance user groups where some FBR shareholders were talking about suing the FBR management team for giving themselves a big fat pay raise while they have lost billions for their shareholders. They also apparently are trying to band together as a group and approach the SEC to see if they have a case on corporate malfeasance. It is because of blogs like this one that employees and shareholders are finally having freedom and clout to speak out against corporations that skirt the law and treat their employees like crap. I think we would all agree FBR and FNLC are those kinds of companies.
I say kudos to Anna Nonymous, the mortgage Lender Implode guys, and anyone else who has the courage to publish what is really going on inside corporate America. If a company doesn't want to see their names plastered all over social websites, then they should clean up their acts and begin to act responsibly.
I just looked up Mysti and it says she is the President and Owner of Mysti Beachwear and that company has 1-10 employees. I thought she was unemployed? Also, she looks a heck of a lot younger than Kent. See how long this marriage lasts when he has no money to go along with no lead in his pencil. Look slike it is time to get a younger version.
To all you haters of the LastNLC blog: do you think we FNLC employees are the only ones outraged by everything that's going on? Just google Kent or Mysti Cope and guess what - MANY blogs are posting about the CNN Money article on the Copes, and the comments are more brutal (and entertaining) than what is written here. Check some of these out for yourself:
http://www.mega-tokyo.com/blog/
http://www.3dcommune.com/3d/forum.mv?The_Pub+read+8792973215
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994433/posts
Kent, Kent, Kent - what have you gotten yourself into! :)
I'm planning on keeping this blog as long as people keep showing up! I figure at the very least, it may provide some online insight if anybody decides to get some info on the management team before doing business with them again. Perhaps the blog will serve as an permanent "black eye" on their backgrounds.
Funny thing about all of the Cope backlash - the guy was probably thinking he was going to get some sympathy with his "poor me" story, but he has received a shitstorm of negative feedback, some of which I will share in my next post.
She didn't have the education or skill to be an executive and thought her s**t didn't stink.She started as an admin and less than 5or 6 years later was an executive. How fortunate!
It's hard to feel sorry for someone who had such disregard for others and looked down on everyone else because she thought her life was so grand.
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