Routine Examination Turns Costly
When New Hampshire regulators were given loan files for a routine examination of a mortgage brokerage, they became suspicious about missing documents. With a little more work, they found the missing documents in a shredding bin and reconstructed them only to find altered documents on loans from that state and from Massachusetts. In addition to fining the broker $400,000, they alerted Massachusetts regulators -- who then took their own actions.

The New Hampshire Banking Department has entered into a consent order with The Mortgage Specialists Inc. Also listed in the order were the company's owner Michael Gill and its compliance officer Lisa Tracy.

In a staff petition dated July 23, the state said it conducted a routine examination of 20 loan files.
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