WaMu Loan Officers Punished For Not Approving Dubious Loans

New York Times:

AS a senior mortgage underwriter, Keysha Cooper was proud of her ability to spot fraud and other problems in a loan application. A decade of vetting mortgage documents had taught her plenty, she says.

But as a senior mortgage underwriter at Washington Mutual during the late, great mortgage boom, Ms. Cooper says she found herself in a vise. Brokers squeezed her from one side, her superiors from the other, she says, and both pressured her to approve loans, no matter what.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[strangerinthenight]

11:15 AM on 11/03/2008

Monies are loaned to unqualilfied applicants. WaMu knew or should have known payments will be impossible. So what happens to credit worthiness ? Gosh .............. what a silly question ?

Glad the WaMu is gone forever. Feel sorry for the investors.

[Sundialsvc4]

08:10 AM on 11/03/2008

Can you spell "F-E-L-O-N-Y?"

Knew you could.

Now, let me remind you of a document that has been proclaimed to be "off the table" by another well-known crook. I want to remind you that there is no such thing as a "victimless crime." (In fact, I'd like you to feel like you're now "one of more than 300 million Plaintiffs," as, in fact, you are.)

Here goes:

(Article VI) "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

And:

"The President, Vice President, AND ALL CIVIL Officers of the United States, SHALL be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

The words "signing statement" do not appear.

When the Congress unconstitutionally proclaimed for itself the power to selectively ignore the Constitution, and when the Executive proclaimed for himself the power of a King, and no one would "say them 'no,'" we all became Plaintiffs. We cannot and will never receive "justice," nor "tranquility," nor "defence," nor "general Welfare," nor any of the "Blessings of Liberty" if there is no Law in this land.

[landoffools]

02:18 AM on 11/03/2008

Kerry Killinger continues to live in his Mercer Island mansion on the lake !

So American, when is it finally enough ?

[kymlosang]

02:26 AM on 11/03/2008

good question. when are criminal charges going to be brought forth?

[PatForObama]

10:57 AM on 11/03/2008

Hopefully during an Obama administration.

An AG - perhaps Andrew Cuomo - could set up a division specifically to go after these crooks. Further, whistle-blowers could be rewarded via job-searching help in the new economy that actually wants to hire honest people, and the entire project could be paid for with the restitution and enormous fines collected from those involved in shady dealings in lieu of their doing jail time. Their choice: empty their Cayman Islands accounts or clean toilets in a Federal pen (not a vacation prison.) And speaking of off-shore accounts... If the Germans could close the loopholes, we can too.

Do I sound like Pollyana? That's ok. There are millions who follow the rules and are sick to death of those who don't. It would make for a good grassroots campaign that would truly be inclusive.

[schatsie]

11:45 PM on 11/02/2008

We need regulators, but we also need the WHISTLE BLOWERS,, they found out all the tricks of the trade and were willing to shine some light on the corruption and were the only ETHICAL ones in the corporations.....

[topachic25]

11:08 PM on 11/02/2008

Unfortunately this behavior is not only found at WAMU. I worked for Wells Fargo and Bank of America and saw the same things there as well. I left the banking word because I could not rectify my morals and ethics with my job. Time and time again I saw customers overloaded with "products and services" they did not need, want, or even know what they were. With Wells Fargo, if my sales staff did not have a minimum of 1mil in their Home Equity Sales "Pipeline" and at least 2 pending mortgages, they were written up. The same held true for Bank of America. If someone didn't have the income.. Just change a few numbers here and there and presto...APPROVED!! The "Bankers" who are there to assist you with sound financial advice, are only interested in their quarterly goals and how what they get you to accept will increase their bonus check! So buyer beware, you are nothing more than extra $$$ in a Personal Bankers pocket. Fortunately there are alternatives... Check out a Credit Union! With no greedy Shareholders who demand more and more $$$, your interests are truly at the forefront of their advice and offerings.

[Stilts9]

10:16 PM on 11/02/2008

If these "bankers" were anymore unregulated they'd be using child labor just like in the old days.

[LeonBNJ]

10:07 PM on 11/02/2008

I hope this woman can sue her superiors and the remains of WaMu for forcing her to make bad loans and to compensate her for lost employment opportunies and income. Perhaps a law firm going after WaMu officers could hire her as a well paid 'expert witness' and advisor. I bet she knows where a lot of the bones are literally buried.

[truthynesslover]

09:59 PM on 11/02/2008

What a bunch of crooks!Too bad nobody will go to jail!Jail is only for the poor.

[whoknew---]

09:46 PM on 11/02/2008

H.R. 5660 Commodity Futures Modernization Act 2000

Question the legality of this Act in regard to the States Laws and Sovereignty
Specifically page 262-

“This title shall supersede and preempt the application of any State of local law that prohibits or regulates gaming or the operation of bucket shops (other than antifraud provisions of general applicability)”

Could a case be made regarding violation of pre-existing State anti-gambling laws and criminal codes by targeting this specific portion of this Federal Act so that it could be overturned retroactively from the very day this act passed in 2000? Also the monies directly obtained that benefited persons/corporations because of this questionable legislation ought to be justifiably investigated too. This Act should have never been legalized in the first place. The same type of gaming the stock market caused the Panic of 1907 and was declared illegal. Why was it decriminalized?

H.R. 6054 (The Military Commissions Act of 2006) apparently offers retroactive Presidential immunity Pardon regarding war crimes. (just incredible)

Maybe we can use the term “retroactive” in a positive legal manner to clean up several of these matters and to possibly deter these types of bad legislation from ever being considered in the future….

[schatsie]

11:39 PM on 11/02/2008

It is still RACKETEERING.... which is 1 Gambling with the investors money and 2 taking out massive amounts in Salaries. Bonuses(taxed as CAPITAL GAINs) and other expenses and benefits...

[whoknew---]

09:43 PM on 11/02/2008

H.R. 5660 Commodity Futures Modernization Act 2000

Question the legality of this Act in regard to the States Laws and Sovereignty
Specifically page 262-

“This title shall supersede and preempt the application of any State of local law that prohibits or regulates gaming or the operation of bucket shops (other than antifraud provisions of general applicability)”

Could a case be made regarding violation of pre-existing State anti-gambling laws and criminal codes by targeting this specific portion of this Federal Act so that it could be overturned retroactively from the very day this act passed in 2000? Also the monies directly obtained that benefited persons/corporations because of this questionable legislation ought to be justifiably investigated too. This Act should have never been legalized in the first place. The same type of gaming the stock market caused the Panic of 1907 and was declared illegal. Why was it decriminalized?

H.R. 6054 (The Military Commissions Act of 2006) apparently offers retroactive Presidential immunity Pardon regarding war crimes. (just incredible)

Maybe we can use the term “retroactive” in a positive legal manner to clean up several of these matters and to possibly deter these types of bad legislation from ever being considered in the future….

[Bugweed]

08:30 PM on 11/02/2008

I just got my WAMU Visa card account statement, that informed me that JP Morgan Chase was now raising the interest rate on my card from 15.45% to 31%!!! Never missed or made late payments. When I called, I was told that they had reviewed all their accounts and would send me a letter of explanation. I said don't bother cancel the card, so I chopped it up andl simply pay it off. What a bunch of scum. More proof that the perfect symbol for Wall Street is the skull and cross bones.

[gevan]

08:57 PM on 11/02/2008

Good for you in cancelling their services. Would that all credit card holder would do the same.

[bluprojekt]

07:57 PM on 11/02/2008

I'm not oposed to making money, but a recent discussion I had with a close friend of mine highlights why government neds to regulate the economy - Wall Street, Banking etc.

One word: GR33D

He's been a staunch Republican since I've known him, but he begrudgingly conceded for the first time in his life, he's having to vote Democratic. I said what's so wrong with that? The party you ascribe to has more or less made its bed and now is making the rest of the country lie in it. YOu may bnot like the government getting involved in your busiess affairs, but it's clear that there's no other choice. The very financial instruments you believed in have shown what they're truly made of - and now all of us have to pay for it.

Thanks to those gr33dy b@st@rds

[schatsie]

11:43 PM on 11/02/2008

Doesn't it make you wonder that if the top income tax had been kept at 91%, that would minimize the GREED IMPACT....

after all if you are giving 90% of the last 100,000 in taxes, then maybe the money would trickle down instead... Those good old days when CEOs were happy to collect 40 times the lowest salary....

[knowBuddhaU]

07:44 PM on 11/02/2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102300193.html
Greenspan alternately defended his legacy and acknowledged mistakes. Waxman asked whether the former chairman was wrong to consistently oppose regulating the multitrillion dollar derivative market that has contributed to the financial crisis.

"Well, partially," said Greenspan, before stressing the difference between credit-default swaps and other types of derivatives... "Markets and societies move on belief systems," said James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer and a longtime critic of Greenspan. "The belief system of finance featured the notion that someone with unusual power to see around corners and through walls and into the future was running things, and that someone was Alan Greenspan... "His reputation was as inflated as were house prices in the early 2000s and tech stocks in the late 1990s," Grant said...

"Greenspan used the word "mistake" once during the five-hour hearing, which also included former Treasury secretary John Snow and current Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.

"I made a mistake," Greenspan said, "in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HILARIOUS! Gee whiz, who knew? People are selfish, even the ones who run banks. SHOCKED, I'm just shocked.

Ron Paul's cult would bring us even worse catastrophes.

[knowBuddhaU]

07:43 PM on 11/02/2008

This is the result of Greenspan's social Darwinism aka "libertarian views."

He thought that "the self-interest of institutions" was such that they would be the best ones to regulate themselves. Natural selection acts at the level of the genome. Not the whole strand of DNA, organelle, cell, organ, nor the organism.

V.C. Wynne-Edwards was the most notorious proponent of species-level selection. Why do male mammals fight in stereotyped, ritualized manners? Not for the damn species! Do you really think those bucks know anything of their freakin' species? Why do humans have sex? Not for the good of the damn species!

Species-level selection is effective on some things, I forget which. But it's the exception that proves the rule.

People are selfish. Banks are run by people. So how would "banks know best?" By a suspension of disbelief of mythical proportions. Greenspan said, he was just enacting the will of Congress. My ass! He, too, is a selfish actor. _Cui bono_, Greenspan? Who benefits?

We've been jacked to hell, and are now being stuck with the bill, by social Darwinists in nice suits.

[munki]

07:23 PM on 11/02/2008

It is unfortunate... but it did happen and that is why...
we need to regulators checking... on a regular basis...