As lending industry crashes, thousands seek jobs elsewhere
By Barbara Correa, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
Article Last Updated: 04/13/2008 03:17:56 AM PDT

The subprime home-loan rush is history.

But its impact on the state's work force is just beginning to play out as tens of thousands of real estate, finance and construction workers are left looking for work after a number of heady years.

A year ago, Ed Stush, a former senior vice president at a Fieldstone Mortgage office in Irvine, was earning six figures and enjoying the perks of senior management in an industry that seemingly had no growth ceiling.

Today, his former employer has filed for bankruptcy protection, and his income is zero. He can't even get an interview for jobs paying less than half of what he used to make.

Like a lot of mortgage industry workers, Stush, 55, tried to get work in other kinds of financial services such as insurance, but he found a huge stigma attached to the mortgage industry that disqualified him from even being considered for many jobs.

"It's unjust. If you were in the mortgage industry for a long time ... employers think you're used to making so much money that you're not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year. ... They also think (mortgage lenders) are all money-hungry pigs, but it's not true. Employers are missing out on some really outstanding employees."

It's not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: "NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE."

Instead of jumping into a hostile new industry, laid-off mortgage brokers and real estate agents,
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especially those with years of experience, are learning how to do loans and sales that better reflect today's real estate market.

The California Association of Realtors is sponsoring a series of seminars this month called SWAT: Special Weapons and Tactics to Survive a Down Market. The events run courses on processing government loans, selling homes in foreclosure and closing short sales on properties carrying much more debt than they are worth.

In February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $5.6million federal grant to retrain mortgage and banking industry workers laid off as a result of the subprime crisis. Some of that money is already at work in programs at local employment-development offices and community colleges.

And after May1, more funds will flow to similar programs to transfer people away from housing-market fields to jobs in growth industries, such as health care and commercial construction.

Retrainers are bound to help some people find jobs. But they'll have their work cut out for them. Since July, California has lost more than 50,000 construction jobs and seen at least 10,000 mortgage-related layoffs, with new cuts coming every week. The California Association of Realtors says membership has dropped 17percent from last year.

Headhunters and counselors say they are having a hard time placing laid-off mortgage brokers and construction workers in new positions. Bruce Barnes, head career counselor at career management company Lee Hecht Harrison's Woodland Hills office, said he has only placed half of a group of workers from a mortgage lender in Burbank who were let go last fall.

"Some have gone back into traditional financial services with banks," Barnes said. "Others are looking into smaller credit unions, and a few have transitioned into Countrywide."

Construction industry workers have found similar problems.

"I'm not putting anybody to work right now because the homebuilders are laying off people right and left," said Bob Schoonmaker, a building industry headhunter in Newport Beach with clients spread across Southern California.

"Some construction workers coming from the residential side are trying to move to commercial construction, but many others are standing in line for unemployment checks," he said.

There are bright spots, however. The shifting market has motivated some to create completely new business models.

One problem in the mortgage industry that the subprime meltdown brought to light was the often absurd complexity of mortgage contracts that left consumers bewildered. Ted Grose, a principal at 1st Mortgage Advisors in Los Angeles and former president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, thinks for-profit mortgage counseling for consumers could present opportunity for out-of-work mortgage brokers.

He said he has been getting a lot of demand from people who are not in trouble on their mortgages but want to go back and be sure there aren't hidden surprises in their contracts. "I haven't started charging for it yet, but it has potential. It would be fee-based, probably hourly."

Here's what some other mortgage industry veterans are doing:

Torri Shack, 29, left the mortgage business in 2007 to become a personal trainer. After five years making lots of money, she ended up declaring bankruptcy for her business, but she says she is much happier now. Entrepreneurial at heart, she is launching a new dog boot-camp venture, a workout program for dogs and their owners.

Two years ago, Alain Silverston was bringing in six figures as a real estate agent in Long Beach. Last year, he returned to property management, which was his profession before moving to California from France in 2001. His income has dropped to a few thousand dollars a month, his credit card is maxed out, he doesn't go to restaurants anymore, and he only shops at Trader Joe's.

Maggie Mouscardy, a real estate agent serving the South Bay, is starting a nonprofit organization called The Ultimate Give to motivate other agents to keep a stiff upper lip during a tough time for the industry. "Feeding 220 people in a homeless shelter gives you some perspective. It's a real pick-me-up," said Mouscardy, who knows several agents who are now working at a CVS Pharmacy and JoAnns fabric store. She said the younger agents who just entered the business in recent years are unprepared for a down cycle and don't understand that lean times are part of any business.

Nash Delfish was laid off from Countrywide Financial in January 2007. Within two weeks, he had another job processing loans at Los Angeles loan servicer The Mortgage Store. That lasted about a month and a half, and then the industry imploded, and Delfish was out of work for six months. Last fall, he was accepted into an accounting training program at the Verdugo Jobs Center in Glendale. He says he already has two job offers doing financial audits, and he'll accept one in the next month or so.

Stush, the former Fieldstone vice president, sees a bright future in reverse mortgages - as "house rich, cash poor" seniors begin retiring - and government loans, poised to play a much bigger role in home financing going forward. "Reverse mortgages are going to be huge, so I figure if you break in now, you'll be set. I can't sit around waiting."

barbara.correa@dailynews.com(818) 713-3662

quote:

It's not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: "NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE

Who would hire someone who knowingly sold a 110% mortgage to someone who can't pay.

quote:

No one wants to hire laid off mortgage brokers!!!!

but i'm shur yuh would love to get laid by any one a dem

quote:

Originally posted by DaFreak:

quote:

No one wants to hire laid off mortgage brokers!!!!

but i'm shur yuh would love to get laid by any one a dem

Are you therefore offering yourself?

quote:

Originally posted by Sunil:

quote:

It's not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: "NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE

Who would hire someone who knowingly sold a 110% mortgage to someone who can't pay.

If the man can sell that good, he should get a salesman job easy!

Yo Freak hook I man up.

Hey DaFreak,

It appears that I must have struck a nerve in you by posting this article. As you must have known after reading the article in its entirety, I did not write it. It was written by one Barbara Correa, and was published in the Los Angeles Daily News.

My title for this thread is simply a synopsis of the article. Please forgive me if I somehow offended you, perhaps I should think before posting these types of articles as they might offend those who were in the real estate and mortgage profession and are now on the unemployment lines and are most likely indulging in roti and cat-food "choke-a".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Elizabeth,

quote:

Originally posted by DaFreak:

quote:

No one wants to hire laid off mortgage brokers!!!!

but i'm shur yuh would love to get laid by any one a dem

Freak they need to stop dreaming and get a real honest Job and stop Jerking off......I am sure Elizabeth wont hook up with low lives thieves.