Comments on: MILA’s Bankruptcy

By: To the Students from the Oct 18, 2011 LO CE Class at ORT Lynnwood : National Association of Mortgage Fiduciaries

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:47:14 +0000

[...] are two articles about MILA that we talked [...]

By: Terry Birkland

Terry Birkland — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:09:48 +0000

It’s hard to see what to make of Sapp. He ran his company into the ground by taking away its financial ability to function. Probably anticipating the downturn in loan originations. Sounds like a plan to me. It does say a lot about his sense of responsibility to others, especially people he borrowed from. There probably are some violations of law here but if he was the sole owner I guess he could do whatever he wanted with minimum legal risk.

By: Chris Madden

Chris Madden — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:06:10 +0000

This is getting redundant. Thats ludacris to say this man had no prior knowledge of the companies financial situation. If he didn’t know, then he didn’t care to know. I doubt much will happen to him, but his greed has affected so many lives. So many, he couldn’t imagine. Freezing his assets would only be the start.

By: LINDA COFFMAN

LINDA COFFMAN — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:39:45 +0000

The damage is done, to MILA customers, and to MILA employees. Now the taxpayers have the burden of finding fault. Even if they find Sapp quilty the Bankruptcy court cannot change the course of events. I does come down to, who wants to run a sucessfull business and not let greed enter thier heart!

By: William Platts

William Platts — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:09:46 +0000

I’m sure Lane believed he had rights to the monies he paid himself through various conduits, after all it was his hard work that made that money. He just became neglectful of business and social ethics that come with great success. He is simply one of many that have a disease of personal greed. Whether he actually violated the law is for the legal process to figure out, perhaps he was smarter than the thieving Enron execs. Again, this is what fosters the rise of governmental regs that can stifle free enterprise. His business practices coupled with 1000′s of others like him is esentially what has collapsed the US econmy. Remember Kruschev, he once made the comment, unregulated capitalism will fall from within, thats not word for word but its close enough and he was right. The real question is, will ethical business practices ever prevail over greed. We have front row seats in that movie, lets work rather than hope for a happy ending.

By: jason brock

jason brock — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:44:34 +0000

MILA was a great success for so long but I believe crashed prematurely. It is true that a lot of Lenders were living a life of luxury. My question to all of you is as Lane was studding in college, working hard and saving his money then taking this risk of opening a wildly successful company what were you doing? Opening a business and sustaining a business is hard work. It may be true that some assets were co-mingled but the fact is he was the first of many, many, many lenders to close. I hope that there is a fair outcome for creditors as well as Lane.

By: Jillayne Schlicke

Jillayne Schlicke — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:01:26 +0000

Hi Beth,

Piercing the corporate veil means he may have used corporate funds for personal expenses. This means he may have taken money away from people for whom it was intended such as creditors and former employees. The trustee for the bankruptcy court says they have proof. We’ll have to wait for the case to settle to find out.

By: Beth Damery

Beth Damery — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:17:02 +0000

Who are we to sit in judgment of Sapp? We are all in our own ways “owners” of our own business. To assume that the money was taken in greed is an unknown. Who knew the market would entirely crash, he was ridding the band wagon like the executives we see in the news everyday from the banking industry and wall street. He was merely the flavor of the day in the spot light of the media.

By: Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:12:15 +0000

Over and over the past year we have seen example after example of mis used funds and what is considered to be massive compensation and bonuses. I dont then he is any different than the leadership at Morgan Stanley, WAMU, and others.

Now congress is involved int he investigations, so obviously Mr. Sapp isn’t the only one. As a privatively held company in which he was the major investor he had the right to do what ever he wanted with the money. As for AE’s telling LO’s how to commit fraud, that is very sad, and I’m sure not something MILA would have condoned. Almost every sub prim lender has closed their doors. This isn’t any different and the press does what they can to sell news, keep that in perspective.

By: Robert Paterson

Robert Paterson — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:50:10 +0000

2 billion in creditors claims for a Mountlake company!!! Some body certainly must have been looking the other way. I wonder now that the mortgage bubble has burst how many more Layne Sapp’s are out there. Everybody is going to pay for this sort of greed. I wonder how many banks and insurance companies would insolvent right now with out the bail out package from the taxpayers. We the people will never know for sure.

By: Sharon Eva

Sharon Eva — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:45:08 +0000

I think this article is typical for many CEO’s in the mortgage industry. If this man goes to jail, shouldn’t they all? He is doing what most people do when going into bankruptcy. What is the difference between someone who files for banruptcy and owes 60,000.00 in credit card debts vs. this man? Neither is going to pay back the creditor. Debtor’s prison is long gone from our society. I think we need to tighten bankruptcy laws and make it
hard for people to walk away from their debts without harsh repercussions.

By: Chrissie Durrin-wheatman

Chrissie Durrin-wheatman — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:25:25 +0000

This sort of thing does not surpise me at all!Perhaps in 2004 when the bubble was bursting more action should have been taken then.Why do everyone now (homeowners)ect. have to pay for greed of these executives. Well I can ansrew that its because everyone was Bennfiting from it. I like what Obama has done with putting a cap on what executives make.

By: Vladislav Baydovskiy

Vladislav Baydovskiy — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:01:20 +0000

I think since the company was private, the case goes too far by asking the court the freeze his personal assets. 2004 and 2005 were far from being “crisis” years, the busienss was great and money was flowing. I think this case has no merits.

By: Mila Usher

Mila Usher — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:45:14 +0000

I agree with Jeremy. If the company wasn’t all that great and contributed to mortgage crisis who cares that their gone. One less bad apple in the barrel. As for Sapp he will get what he deserves.

By: Rand Wood

Rand Wood — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:47:14 +0000

I dealt with Mila some. It was a shock when they closed from one day to the next. Obviously they were cash short, one of the first to go. Many have followed since and I’m sure that some of their top exec’s followed some of the same practices as Mila. Maybe they didn’t live so close to great boating though!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:46:26 +0000

Layne Sapp was one of the co-founders of MILA and at a younger age had a very gifted nack for financial investments. It’s sad that as he got older and money grew for him that it overwhelmed his choices in business. Of course his assets should be frozen until everything is cleared up. And of course the other executives should also at some point be held accountable. He couldn’t have made all these decisions all by himself!

By: John Sarausad

John Sarausad — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:35 +0000

I think that executives need to think more about the care of their employees and growth in their company. Sapp’s assets should definitely be seized and he should be highly prosecuted for his wrongdoing.

By: Kent Kiser

Kent Kiser — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:15:41 +0000

As I sat in the office as a loan originator and watched one after another of sales guys selling stuff just like what MILA offered I always thought, when does this house of cards tumble. I always thought that it was just competition that was pushing these companies to the brink. But as the dust clears to actually see guys like Sapp and others get rewarded so enormously is ver dis-heartening.
There should be some some place in the legal system that this type of theft deserves punishment. It is just another case of including those of us who try and help client in with the few who steal from them.
Thats not fair…

By: Dennis Tyler

Dennis Tyler — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:09:19 +0000

If Sapp misused his position, or did not take care of stakeholders properly, his assets should be frozen and other consequences exacted. I also believe it is easy to pass judgement without all of the facts. While I do not agree with greedy executives taking care of themselves in ways harmful to others, let’s allow the law to make that determination.

By: Carmen Ziranda

Carmen Ziranda — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:59:13 +0000

Another selfish person. I don’t think even for a second that no one of the executives knew what was happening. I wonder if ever there will be a honest person to reveal what is happening in their companies before it’s too late. It seems that the word HONESTY has been lost.

By: Brian Paine

Brian Paine — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:12:32 +0000

…and we wonder why we have to battle vs. the title of Mortgage Professional or Loan Originator…how do you build a defense when even household lender names provide this type of horrific press? It will further be interesting to see how the mortgage industry will evolve throughout this ordeal (not just w/ MILA).

By: Roger Ingalls

Roger Ingalls — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:58:38 +0000

The only thing that makes this story unusual is the local angle, and that Sapp made it as big as he did nationally. I suspect a similar pattern developed at nearly every sub-prime lender in the country, as they faced their demise in 2006 and 2007.

Seems to me that the top execs at WAMU did much the same thing, but perhaps with better legal advice, and on a larger scale ($100 million was the figure I recently read regarding Killinger’s compensation for running WAMU into the wall).

This is not to defend either Sapp or Killinger, or the thousands of their ilk. It was, and is, shameful

It’s high time to value something (almost anything, really) more than the worship of acccumulating and wielding disproportionate money and power.

Why can’t the lender’s of the future be more like George Bailey, from It’s a Wonderful Life?

By: Richard Davis

Richard Davis — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:37:32 +0000

Mr. Sapp’s is unethical at the very least. Capitalism at its worst? There seems to be different rules for the rich. If he comingled his funds he may get prosecuted. I would also like to see Mr. Sapp do some jail time over this. It seems like standard operating practice. This industry needs to define its ethics. The essence of his actions is deplorable, but it seems to always boil down to the attorney you can afford that determines the outcome.

By: Jim Haechler

Jim Haechler — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:23:20 +0000

I also used MILA a couple off times. So i was a little surprised. I think Sapp knew the bubble was about to burst. So he protected himself by depleting his companys assets. Its plain greed. The courts should freeze his assets until this is settled in a court of law.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:20:44 +0000

I have used MILA many times, but I thought they were not as competative as others. Once again this is a case where greed was at the driver seat and the checks and balances were not in place to curtail such practices by Mr. Sapp, but really who is to judge the outcome.