By JARED WHITLEY
Amer Bally, the top-ranked loan officer in Michigan and a former account executive at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), announced his departure from Philadelphia-based UMortgage last week in a LinkedIn post citing a “need to reflect on my actions, accountability, and who I want to be.”
Bally’s meteoric rise and fall – the 27-year-old’s team joined UMortgage to great fanfare only this year – might not be newsworthy but for the fact that UMortgage CEO Anthony Casa and UWM CEO Mat Ishbia are tacitly implicated on account of their close professional relationships with Bally and their own penchants for indiscretion.
Details are scant, but multiple sources close to Bally and UWM report that his unplanned exit is the result of a federal fraud investigation that culminated in an FBI raid last week. (Reporters have been unable to independently verify the raid or possible legal rationale for it.)
Placed in context, Bally’s downfall seems less like an anomaly and more like the latest in a pattern of impropriety perpetuated by some of the biggest egos in the industry.
There is not yet evidence that Ishbia or Casa had a hand in Bally’s alleged fraud. However, considering that Bally started his career under Ishbia, blew it up under Casa, and has specifically referred to both as mentors, it would be naïve to ignore the obvious connection between their leadership and his conduct.
Even if Casa didn’t benefit from Bally’s fraud – unlikely, considering that he was a branch manager for UMortgage – his and Ishbia’s fast, loose, and often immoral approach to business has paid them dividends, but at great cost to the industry they claim to represent.
Now, as mortgage numbers drop and interest rates rise, lenders and mortgage brokers may become more desperate to hit their numbers to remain profitable, possibly leading to more of them using unscrupulous – or even illegal – tactics to get customers loans.
The inevitable result is a less principled, less resilient, and less reputable industry left worse equipped to serve individuals looking to buy a home.
Jared Whitley has written about politics and public policy for many publications, including Real Clear Politics, National Review, and the Washington Times. The views expressed here are his own.