The Fall

In the 2000’s there was a push to switch due diligence underwriting from manual to computerized system to increase the turnout of first liens in the mortgage industry. The vast majority of underwriters were tenured, were paid very well in salary, benefits, and per diem. If they needed to travel their accommodations and rental car was covered by the company.

The software was developed and training began the roll out with no issues. The first wave of underwriters were trained and their role was to then train other underwriters in teams to eventually covert all underwriting duties from manual to the program. The initial underwriters instead banded together to sabotage all other underwriters and shut down the conversion until their demands were met.

Management including the software company tried to go around these initial underwriters but again ran into the same challenge. Meanwhile, metrics in mortgage loan processing had tripled based on the software capabilities. Processors fell behind and missed minimum metrics. Manual processors were also bogged down and mass firings began by management. IT Engineers saw smoke and bailed on the software company.

Manual underwriters in an attempt to remain employed arbitrarily began to approve and disapprove loans. Murmurs began to rise as real estate agents submitted every loan possible to cash in on large commissions. Meanwhile, trained underwriters continued to make demands and sabotage training roll outs. Large mortgage companies began to hemorrhage money as expenses soared and loans were being shoved out the door while mortgages began to go into foreclosure.

Gone were the practices of floating payments to the end of the mortgage term due to adjustable rates, and stubborn supervisors/managers. Greed and insanity ruled the day. The pressure was on! The underwriters did not budge and the mortgage giants failed. Authority misdiagnosed the challenge as a technical one when in fact is was completely adaptive.

What did I do? I took a job as an Administrative Specialist in Baghdad, Iraq with Tom Bruni. That’s what I did. I haven’t worked in the mortgage business since.