The sharp up and down movement of Financial Freedom's production corresponds to Michelle Minier's notorious mood swings.

I think FF ia a dead man walking

Reverse Mortgage Mariachi: The up and down lines are insuring backups or a great disparity in the number of HECMs being insured each month. I get your joke, but just in case you really wanted to know. In theory you could judge the overall operations of the company by how rough or smooth their insuring line is. This is a very crude measuring device and I am sure there will be people who disagree, but overall it is true. Smooth orginizations insure production on a steady basis, always leaving time to get every file done. Occasionally insuring does get backed up, but it shouldn't be that often.

Look at MetLife's line. Nice and smooth, like their operation. P.S. I don't work for metlife.

You would only get the joke if you've worked in an office with Michelle. 'Tyrant' is putting it mildly. Are you ex-FF?

With FF down and JB Nutter out of the picture for so long, it will be interesting to see how the market ultimately pans out. Then there are the new Fannie Mae capitalization requirements. It is hard to believe that the wholesale market will see the dust settling any time soon.

A real long-term question is what will the impact of the results from the supposedly "token" stress tests be on our little industry. If B of A and Wells results are bad as some say, what changes, if any, will be forced on their reverse operations? How was the One West (FF) test handled? Banking is more fun than ever.

Metlife is more like OVERWHELMED and UNDERSTAFFED at this point, a simple answer from an UW is taking weeks, it used to be the next day.

Thank you Financial Freedom for the nose dive. Lots more business for those of us who know how to treat customers and employees with dignity and respect.

I have the cleanest, sweetest deal in with FF and a first time user, five yes thats 5 weeks and I still can't get an answer to when it will close, the rep is a donkey, more attitude than help. This will be my first and last deal going to them. I hope they sink like a lead balloon.

I have 5 deals in with FF right now. The last one submitted 3 weeks ago. It's currently taking "19" days (that is business days not calendar days) for UW. That is on top of 2 days for registration, 2 days for conditions clearing and 2 days to get your closing docs. At least that is what their turn times Lender Alert says. Actually, I sent in a final inspection 4 days ago and have heard "Nada". I was told this morning by a FF employee that the turn times posted are an estimate. I have 7 more loans in process and I can guarantee you they won't get those. Asta La Veesta Baby !!!!!! I sure hate it because I have many years of success with them in the past.

They have wrecked my business and they have severly hurt my customers. No matter what I do or say nothing happens. It is horrible and it will badly hurt our industry. Whoever was so stupid to close their California operations and drown Atlanta should loose their job and be fined. My guess is it will get bad enough that the Feds will have to take action.

How soon we forget. Doesn’t anyone remember why Mortgagee Letter 2006-22 was issued?

It is the cause for the issuance of that ML that jolted my former employer from FF to Seattle Mortgage. Guess what -- IT WAS FF.

Our company was working half-heartedly at adding Seattle Mortgage -- but when the turnaround times at FF were going from 50 days to almost 90 days, we panicked, got off our duffs, and cleaned up our application with Seattle Mortgage at full speed. From that time forward we seldom used FF except for their Cash Accounts. After 2006, we rarely used FF for anything except HomeKeepers.

Back in 2006 the FF excuse was other companies had raided its underwriters. That might have been true but their problem exposed our clients to the loss of their Principal Limit Rate Locks.

At that time, we were the last new major correspondent that Seattle Mortgage took on as a new correspondent for several months. Seattle Mortgage performed and performed well. The rumors at that time went like this: “Seattle will not accept so many new clients that its turnaround times suffer immensely but if you can’t get Seattle and you breathe, go see FF; they will keep taking new clients on until their systems choke and seize.”

So what’s new??? How quickly we forget….

JB Nutter deserves the top spot. Their service is outstanding and their staff are knowledgeable and friendly. When they tell you 24 hour turnaround for underwriting, it happens.

That seems like a red flag to me. JB Nutter underwrittes every file within 24 hours of receipt? Every time? Does anyone else wonder if the rubber "approved" stamp ever makes an appearance to speed things up?

I made a personl statment on 4/29 about FF which I have to say was inaccurate & over done. I had some recent frustration with a file there, but I do not dislike the rep and I look forward to continuing reverse mortgage business with them long term. My deepest apologies.

Mr. Draper,

Even though you show your temper, it takes someone with good character to apologize the way you have. A few others on the website have tried to explain away their conduct but you, sir, have demonstrated what a true apology is. I hope those you are dealing with at FF will whole heartedly accept it.

Mark Draper - Don't apologize! (oh right, that donkey still has your file) Please re-Insult them (correctly so!) as soon as it funds!