One mortgage four years ago raised eyebrows. The borrower was claiming a six-figure income and an unusual profession: mariachi singer. Mr. Parsons could not verify the singer’s income, so he had him photographed in front of his home dressed in his mariachi outfit. The photo went into a WaMu file. Approved.
How could that be? Mind you, if you worked in Washington Mutual and asked too many questions on the lax standard of lending. You may risk being sent to a "Re-education camp":
Employees in Tampa who fell short were ordered to drive to a WaMu office in Sarasota, an hour away. There, they sat in a phone bank with 20 other people, calling customers to push home equity loans. "The regional manager would be over your shoulder, listening to every word,” Ms. Zweibel recalled. “They treated us like we were in a sweatshop.”
Ladies and gentleman, that is the way how banks operated in the 21st century, according to the then CEO Mr. Kerry K. Killinger. Make no mistakes, this gentleman has received compensation of more than $88 million between 2001 and 2007. Bingo! This gent can keep the money at the expense of the shareholder. But wait, where are the regulators? Apparently and unfortunately, they were all sleeping.
So, welcome to the United States of America where the cheaters profit and the general public suffers. If you want to know more about how Washington Mutual relentlessly pushed loans, please read the blockbuster report by New York Times.
A Must-read for every one.
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