Originator Concerns: First Signs of Trouble…

fotovika - Fotolia

Often clients finding themselves in a bind either as a result of an employee’s actions and/or facing a lawsuit from a former employee, ask me what they could have done to avoid the situation.  Unfortunately, my answer is usually pointing out the obvious. In other words, in the effort to hire a large producer, clear warning signs were ignored. For everyone’s benefit, I will give you the top three below:

1. Do unto others…. If the employee is leaving their current employer and engaging in improper actions such as diverting business, sharing sensitive information, disregarding privacy issues, and not disclosing things to borrowers, etc, you can bet that one day, they are going to do the same thing to you. Don’t be surprised when it happens.

2. Branch managers that fight for comp plans that are not compliant are not going to follow the rules in their office when you are not around to supervise them. If the rules are not important enough to apply to them (or they should not have to follow them) don’t be surprised when that attitude becomes pervasive at that branch. This will usually apply to files, and often lead to consumer and compliance issues on a fairly routine basis at the branch.  In addition, expect longer turn times through underwriting and generally more difficult and time consuming files.

3. Employees that cannot give positive references from prior employers are not going to leave on good terms with you. Obviously things go wrong sometimes, but there are right ways and wrong ways to handle matters. Employees with a history of multiple separations on consistently bad terms can be expected at one time or another to have disputes with you. If an employee cannot share at least one manager at a prior employer that is willing to say something positive, expect that one day its going to be slash and burn and you will be the target.

Obviously, the above are generalities, but I do repeatedly see these patterns that my clients either did not want to see or wanted to ignore because they were lured by the opportunity to add a large producer to the mix. Many times clients will share that the now former employee had a good explanation (don’t they always?). Unfortunately, in most cases, the opportunity never materializes in the manner as advertised and the warts become more glaring more quickly and severely than anticipated. In those situations, the realization that “I should have known better” often comes too late.