A Southern California Loan Brokerage
Horror Story

(Sighs then laughs.)

Ahhhhhhhhh…. Funny or weird mortgage broker story….

Or unusual. Or awful.

Big "boiler rooms," rooms full of people selling mortgages on the phone. It's a horrible environment where you're chained to a desk and expected to make a certain amount of phone calls in a certain amount of time. And if you don't, your name can appear on a TV monitor where everyone can see, you know, "Bob Smith Bob Smith Bob Smith" endlessly scrolling across the TV monitor as a signal that Bob is not making phone calls.

Have you seen this?

Absolutely. They can't get up to get a cup of coffee. Sonny used to work at a company, a company whose name we would all know and recognize. It's not important who it is. If you went to the bathroom and you were gone more than 120 seconds, your supervisor would have a problem with that.

Then there are late night sessions where people are made to dial the phone endlessly, drinking can after can of Red Bull to keep them going. You're sitting there, making phone calls, end of story. And if you don't perform, then you're gone. That's the way most of the loans in the United States are originated, especially so in the sub-prime mortgage market.

"Your supervisor would have a problem if you spent more than 120 seconds
in the bathroom," Landers says. McKown cracks up laughing.

How would you characterize the environment in your California loan brokerage office?

Anti-boiler room.

(Laughter.)

We're just a straight-forward group of professionals. The people who work here are not made to suffer like that. We're not the kind of company that expects you to show up and make phone calls. We expect people to behave as professionals. We are adults, we are not 22 years old. You show up, you do your business, you get your loans done, and you get paid. And if you don't, you don't. We don't bait-and-switch, we don't chase people, and it's a very professional, very adult environment.

And you can spend more than 120 seconds in the restroom?

Absolutely.

That's hysterical. I remember a boiler room operation that was pretty awful. They sold long distance phone service to people who didn't want to hear from them.

That's a true story. Whether you're selling a financial instrument or long distance, it's the same deal.

Next page of the interview.