Herb and Marion Sandler, founders of Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), were featured in last Sundays 60 Minutes report on how the mortgage industry has set off the financial ruin of millions of American citizens. The CRL is the main opponent of the payday loans industry. Apparently their argument that payday loans are one of those “irresponsible lenders” was more than just a little bit of a hypocritical platform to stand on.
Since the Sandlers refused to comment and repeatedly ignored and rejected invitations to appear on 60 Minutes, much of the interview was with Paul Bishop. Bishop was a salesman at World Savings San Francisco Loan Origination Center, owned by Herb and Marion. According to Bishop, the business practices at World Savings were less than satisfactory. Apparently they started valuing quantity over quality.
Their business practices became so corrupt that they actually sent out fliers telling customers that their income would not be checked by the bank! Bishop commented that they wouldn’t even verify income when customers would claim a certain amount. He said, “So I don’t really need to know what you make. I don’t need proof. You tell me you make $200,000 a year? You make $200,000 a year.”
The report continues to look into lazy and inappropriate business practices-a lot of which showed themselves in World Savings. I find it very ironic that the founders of the CRL,an organization that is apparently suppose to promote responsible lending and get rid of the “big bad payday lending industry”, have been a good contributor to the downfall of the mortgage industry and the subsequent economic downfall.
They were giving people loans who should not have been given loans. Loan applications were altered by salesmen so the loan would be approved, but the customer was in no position to have such a loan. Looks like the payday loan industry is leaps and bounds ahead of Herb and Marion. Perhaps the CRL was just a ploy to make people think World Savings trustworthy and a responsible lender…
