Carteret Mortgage Corporation - Retail, Net Branch Operation

Update - 2008-10-06: Carteret Mortgage Corporation filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the Eastern District of VA court on October 1st, 2008. The deadline for filing additional schedules (including creditors) has been set for 2008-10-16. From a partial email sent to former employees:

"On October 1, 2008 at 2:04pm, Carteret Mortgage Corporation filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. All employees that we still owe money are considered Priority Unsecured Creditors. You will be getting notice shortly so you can file your claim."

We will post the information when it becomes available. View our Discussion Forum topic for Carteret or feel free to leave your comments below.

Original Listing - 2008-08-06: We learned of this company's closure when a topic appeared on our Discussion Forum: Carteret Mortgage Corporation based out of Centreville, VA, is being dissolved. Bloomberg reports:

"Carteret Mortgage Corp., a closely held mortgage broker that originated more than $4 billion in loans in 2006, plans to close in several weeks, said Chief Executive Officer Eric Weinstein.

"We ran out of money," Weinstein, 49, said in an interview today. "We're not technically out of business yet, but we're winding it down and trying to do the best we can for everybody.""

A tipster sent in a copy of CEO and founder Eric Weinstein's "farewell memo" from today:

"Technically, we are not out of business. We still have licenses, the phones work, etc. I have made this decision now, on purpose, so that everyone can get paid out everything they are owed, rather than waiting until we miss a payroll and people lose their money.

"I would expect that you have about 30 days to close your loans before it starts getting bad. You should definitely seek other employment immediately. Take whatever files you can."

From their web site:

"CARTERET Mortgage Corporation was originally incorporated in Virginia on August 21, 1991 as WEINCO, Inc. , a family-run company 100% owned by Eric Weinstein. It lay dormant until September 1995 when it changed its name to CARTERET Mortgage Corporation and applied for a Virginia Mortgage Brokers license. The State of Virginia requires an exhaustive credit, financial, work experience and personal reference check of all corporate officers before approving a Virginia Mortgage Broker license. On October 31, 1995, the corporation received its license and opened for business as a Virginia mortgage broker. Its other state licenses soon followed. As of fiscal year end 2002, CARTERET Mortgage Corporation operated business in all 50 states, including Washington, D.C., with over 2000 loan officers generating billions in loans per year, and growing."

According to a former employee we spoke with, there were around 800 loan officers left when a transition began to Endicott, MD based Candor Mortgage Corporation, founded 2008-01-18 by former Carteret Mortgage Corporation managers Tom & Andy Moskey and Jason Metter, and member of the LendingTree network.

Forum posters implied instances of fraud by former Carteret Mortgage Corporation loan officers may have had a causative effect in the decision to shutter the operation. We found at least seven pending lawsuits naming Carteret Mortgage Corporation:

• Brian K. Rhodes, by his power of attorney Linda P. Burrows vs. ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc., Citi Mortgage Inc., Larry Wood, Wesley Wood, Carteret Mortgage Corp., Teays Valley Trustees LLC, Ryan Keesee, Quality Living Spaces LLC - Alleged predatory lending.
• Gibson et al v Carteret Mortgage Corporation et al - Originally filed 2007-07-13 (as amended 2008-04-01). Alleged predatory lending.
• Harper et al v Carteret Mortgage Corporation et all - Originally filed 2008-03-05. Alleged predatory lending; Truth-In-Lending violation.
• Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc v Hamilton Mortgage Company (Carteret Mortgage Corporation named as Third-Party Defendant) - Originally filed 2007-04-02. Breach of Contract; Loan repurchase for alleged fraud.
• BRAWER v CARTERET MORTGAGE CORPORATION et al - Originally filed 2008-05-09. Class action for unpaid wages.
• Hanscom v Carteret Mortgage Corporation et al - Originally filed 2006-12-09. Class action for unpaid overtime.
• Martell v Turcheck et al (Carteret Mortgage Corporation named as Defendant) - Originally filed 2007-09-26 (as amended 2008-02-06). Alleged conspiracy to commit fraud.

Specific volume information and the total number of offices for Carteret Mortgage Corporation were not available at the time of this listing. Please contact us if you can provide additional details.

All comments are welcome. Visit our Discussion Forum to view additional discourse on this company.