Local Lender Key in Mortgage Meltdown

[Ariba]

Aurora Loan Services a major player in the nonprime mortgage market was at the heart of a strategy that helped push Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy.

http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_10951211

Aurora Loan Services officials declined to comment for this story.

Lehman bought a stake in Aurora in 1997, well before most investment banks owned mortgage lenders, and later purchased the whole company. It transformed the small-loan servicer into a nationwide lending powerhouse in the Alt-A market, which mushroomed starting in about 2003.

Aurora was primarily a wholesale and correspondent lender, meaning it underwrote loans originated for it by independent brokers and mortgage banks. Lehman packaged loans from Aurora and its other subsidiaries with mortgages it purchased from other banks and sold them as securities to investors. Aurora was not part of Lehman's bankruptcy and still services most of the company's securitized mortgage portfolio.

Was Louis Garone,the former chairman of the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers, not the head review appraiser for Aurora Loan Services?

 

[rbrienza]

Yes, I believe that he was. not 100% sure. I do know that he was employeed there.

 

[Dee Dee]

I believe that both Lou Garone and Joe D'Orisio worked at Aurora Loan Services as reviewers, but not sure if they were LEAD reviewers.
Wow.

 

[Nancy Wyatt]

I know Joe better than Lou; and I can tell you that Joe has integrity that others could only dream of having and is honest to the bone.

On the subject of Lou-I would doubt he would have anything to do with it.

Remember-It was GSE's policies that got us into this mess.

 

[SaraHillman]

I have taken classes from Lou through AI, he is a fabulous instructor.