First Call Mortgage Co. - Agency, FHA/VA, Reverse
2008-10-16
Comment on this article | Subscribe by email! 
stories: thewarrengroup.com, unionleader.com, boston.com, andovertownsman.com
"First Call Mortgage of Andover, Ma is gone," the email said.
Hit with Cease & Desist Orders from both Massachusetts and New Hampshire's Banking Departments on 2008-09-24, the retail lender turned Reverse Mortgage specialist and its principle officers were assessed numerous fines and ordered to repay certain fees to customers after an Examiner's visit revealed a number of serious violations.
The company's assets were purchased by Direct Finance Corp. of Hanover, MA for an undisclosed amount as reported in Banker & Tradesmen Daily.
"I was there at the peak," our tipster wrote. "We had about 100 employees... did about 35M per month." The source added:
"They acted as both a broker and lender which [may have] attributed to a lot of the RESPA violations. About 90% of the product was sub prime and pay option ARM’s... they were making upwards of 5% YSP on the pay options. More recently they have focused on Reverse Mortgages."
Based on data from HUD's Neighborhood Watch, First Call Mortgage originated 178 FHA mortgages (including reverse) during the four quarters ending 2008-06-30. Average monthly volume for all FHA loans was about $3.9 million. Volume for other loan types was not available.
Email us if you can provide additional detail on this lender.
permalink to this record | forum thread
ex-nh-loan-officer at 17:21 2008-10-28 said:
What's the matter Carl.....Can't flash around your (and Peter's) money and buy out the banking departments? So much for the "perfect machine" you claimed to have. NOT! As they say, WHAT COMES AROUND, GOES AROUND! Couldn't have happened to a more pompous A$$! Permalinkclemente21 at 20:40 2008-11-03 said:
I worked at 1st Call briefly in 2005; what a frigging racket! They hired scam artists, used car salesmen, and other low lifes as LO's. The so-called " Sales Manager", at that time, was a real a-hole. Glad to hear they got shut down! Permalinkadd a comment | go to forum thread
Note: Comments may take a few minutes to show up on this page. If you go to the forum thread, however, you can see them immediately.
Important: This company is on our list of lending operations that have "imploded". However, please note that "imploded" is a somewhat subjective and does not necessarily mean operations are ceased permanently: it can mean bankruptcy filing, temporary but open-ended halting of major operations, or "firesale" acquisition. All information here is provisional, and may contain inaccuracies (especially newer information). If you are planning on doing business with this company or any other one listed on this site, you should inquire with them directly on whether they can still meet your needs. Many are still operating in some capacity.