Strange But True Tales from the Comments Section

"Blue" has been sharing some good stories in the comments section of various posts. I thought I would start passing them along. In addition, "Lastlaugh" has noted that Daddy and Junior were fired by FBR last week.

And now, on to the dirt, as told to us by faithful reader Blue:

During my time at FNLC, I was privvy to information that, to say the least, was embarrassing then (and is just plain funny now!) I have been reluctant to post on this blog for fear of reprisal (after all the Henschels are a family of lawyers) and I did sign a piece of paper that said in order to collect my (pitiful) severance, I had to refrain from discussing the company for 1 year. Well, that 1 year is up, and the company no longer exists, so I figure I will share some of my stories with everyone.

Before some pro-FNLCr's start bashing me, again I preface this to say that (1) all this info is 100% true; (2) I post it for entertainment purposes and for a little bit of relishing in the fact that the management team that screwed us all are now screwed themselves and (3) as a cautionary tale for those of you who would even consider working for this group of liars again.

Because so many managers had a big mouth at FNLC, it was easy to get access to information. Here is one of my favorite tidbits relative to the piece Anna just posted. The move to the T-Rex building was a poor error in judgement. They had just renewed their lease with the existing shit building in Deerfield Beach, and now they were going to move to this massive new building in Boca Raton, in the midst of a shrinking lending environment and the prospects of downsizing (not increasing/hiring) staff. Why did they do this? To satisfy the ego of one man who wanted to leave a lasting legacy and mark in his hometown of Boca Raton.

Even when a press conference was held to announce the T-Rex move, the press was very negative to FNLC (go back and search some of the stories in the Miami papers if you don't believe me). At the time they even stated that this was typical of many companies with CEOs who just wanted to satisfy their egos and have a workplace closer to their own homes to shorten their own commutes. And I remember some of the articles even accused FNLC at the time of likely letting go employees because of it! (which they insisted they wouldn't do).

When it looked like the market was crumbling, and costs had to be reduced, the obvious question was "why are we still moving to T-Rex?" The answer was because a lease was signed and it would have cost millions to get out of it. Instead they chose to start reducing staff and closing ops centers outside Florida to justify the expense of this monstrous new building. And for those of us who did eventually move into T-Rex, it had a creepy vibe and felt like a giant, empty shell from the very beginning.

Here's another:

It appears that the Henschels were not the only crooks behind this disaster. This just posted online on FBR - it seems that after losing millions of dollars these last few years (mostly due to FNLC), these crooks decided to give themselves a big, fat pay raise this week! I feel terrible for the FBR shareholders....

The Committee concluded that management's actions were materially beneficial to the Company and therefore that, in recognition of their efforts and achievements, certain members of executive management should receive bonuses in excess of the bonuses to which they would have been entitled based on the performance goals established in early 2007. The Committee reported its conclusions and recommendations to the Board of Directors, and the independent members of the Board approved the Committee's recommendations. These actions are described below. In addition, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, and the independent members of the Board of Directors, of FBCM also took action on February 21, 2008, to approve executive compensation arrangements for 2008 for its executive officers. Please refer to the current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC today by FBCM for information regarding those actions.

2007 Performance Bonuses. The Board approved final bonuses for 2007 for its named executive officers as follows: (i) a $2,475,914 bonus payable to Eric F. Billings, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, of which $1,778,470 was payable in cash and $697,444 was payable in the form of a combination of FBR Group common stock and FBCM common stock, (ii) a $5,398,835 bonus payable to J. Rock Tonkel, Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, of which $5,004,798 was payable in cash and $394,037 was payable in the form of FBR Group common stock, (iii) a $1,494,725 bonus payable to Richard J. Hendrix, President and Chief Operating Officer of FBCM, of which $1,073,672 was payable in cash and $421,053 was payable in the form of FBCM common stock, (iv) a $905,598 bonus payable to William J. Ginivan, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the Company, of which $650,496 was payable in cash and $255,102 was payable in the form of acombination of FBR Group common stock and FBCM common stock, and (v) a $801,187 bonus payable to Kurt R. Harrington, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, of which $575,496 was payable in cash and $225,691 was payable in the form of a combination of FBR Group common stock and FBCM common stock.

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg from Blue.

Who's Left To Lay Off?

First NLC makes the local paper again, and it's not good news:

"First NLC Financial Services is shedding 154 workers in Boca Raton."

I'm not sure if the author is referring to layoffs that have already happened, or if this is a new announcement...

First NLC: Did You Know?

• That management in one of the West Coast wholesale ops centers routinely tapped into employee phone conversations? In a rare moment of truthfulness a few months ago, a floor manager openly admitted to it. Is that legal in California? I don't think it is in Florida.
• People who were laid off on March 30 had their health benefits expire at midnight that evening, even though there was one day left in the month. Some people weren't even notified on Friday that they had been laid off and unknowingly engaged in weekend activities without health coverage.
• Former employees received incorrect severance payouts that were automatically deposited to their bank accounts. A few days later, the deposits were reversed without notification. HR wasn't going to replace these funds until the following pay period. When forced to make these payments, the correct amounts were sent to the bank accounts - often with a wiring fee deducted. Amazing how quick the company could take its money back, but how reluctant they were to correctly pay it out.
• As of mid-April, several laid-off employees from the first week of March had yet to receive their severance.
• Speaking of layoffs, legal action is being taken against FNLC for violation of the WARN Act.
• Alt-A products were being developed as early as last summer, but Daddy and Junior but the kibosh on it. Think that might have helped us last Fall? We finally launched about a week ago, and as usual, it's too little, too late.
• Our swanky new offices (that we still haven't moved into) are costing a lot of money. When the execs were looking at possible cost-cutting measures a few months ago, the highest-ranking exec would not consider getting out of our lease and instead decided to continue slashing employees from the payroll. Too bad there won't be anybody left to occupy T. Rex by the time it's ready!
• The corporate 401k matching program is arbitrary. Even if you've been there for over a year, it is still at the company's discretion whether they will allocate matching contributions to you. The matching contribution normally takes place once a year (in March, allegedly) in a single lump sum. I know of several employees eligible for this program who were dismissed this past March without their matching contributions. Better yet, when pressed on this matter, HR representatives freely admit that they aren't exactly sure what the policies are. It's a shame to withhold such a pittance from hard-working regular folk, but since it puts more money into the execs' wallets (and really, it's all about the execs, right?), I suppose it's just another case of "doing what is required."