East West Mortgage Co. of VA - Retail

A tipster clued us in that East West Mortgage Co. of VA filed bankruptcy 2008-03-04 (pdf), citing over $18.2 million in unsecured claims resulting largely from a lawsuit filed by wholesale lender First Mariner Bank on 01-25-08. As reported in the Baltimore Business Journal, the lawsuit alleges "East West created false credit references for borrowers, faked documents related to borrowers' employment and income and obtained home appraisals for more than the properties were worth."

The BK filing indicated revenues for 2007 in excess of $15.8 million, down from $32.5 million in 2006. They are/were licensed in six states (including MA, NJ, RI, CT, MN and FL) according to their web site. A somewhat outdated company profile on Baltimore's Business Journal describes the operation as follows:

"Founded in 1986 with three employees and a dream of offering superior mortgage service at competitive rates to a variety of consumers, East West Mortgage now boasts a talented staff of 400, including the original three. Our diverse and seasoned staff is headquartered in the vibrant Tysons Corner, VA area of the metro-DC region. With customer satisfaction and employee retention our top priorities, we survived the turbulent housing markets over the last 19 years to be named Broker Magazine's 7th largest mortgage broker."

We're not exactly sure of the size or scope of their recent operations, or of the number of employees being affected. Please contact us if you can provide additional detail.