Posted on 05/26/2007 4:46:58 PM PDT by SmithL
City Councilman Edmund Ford struck a deal May 19 to purchase the property where his funeral home is located for $750,000.
During a Saturday-afternoon auction, Charles Monger of Supreme Lending Group announced to property owner Dennis Churchwell and a group of reporters: "I'm going to arrange the loan for Mr. Ford."
Ford, a politician whose credit is blemished by three bankruptcies and a widely publicized history of not paying utility bills, is the type of customer profit-driven banks fear. But the councilman, currently under federal indictment for taking bribes, may have found an ideal mortgage broker in Monger.
The 61-year-old Monger has a knack for creative financing -- including financing so creative that one deal turned the businessman into a convicted felon.
In 2005, federal prosecutors in Memphis charged Monger with two counts of fraud for his actions while employed as a car salesman at Thrifty Car Sales on Covington Pike.
According to the indictment, Monger in March and April 2000 helped two customers without the necessary income obtain car loans -- one for $18,498 and the other for $13,755. In both cases, Monger created counterfeit paycheck stubs and submitted them to the lending company, the indictment alleged.
Monger pleaded guilty in August 2005 to one count of mail fraud for creating and mailing the counterfeit paycheck stub to help a customer obtain a loan for a 1997 Jeep. In November 2005, Monger received two years' probation.
In addition to criminal trouble, Monger has financial problems. In October 2005, he filed for bankruptcy, discharging $51,516 in debt, including $8,067 in past-due income taxes and a $21,936 car loan, records show.
Now, Monger -- who did not return repeated calls for comment -- is brokering mortgages.
Under current Tennessee law, mortgage loan originators -- the men and women who broker deals between property buyers and banks -- do not need a state license. Nor does a criminal record, including fraud, prohibit someone from working as a financier in the state.
"The responsibility of a mortgage loan originator's actions are that of the sponsoring broker or lender," said Nicole Lacey, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Financial Institutions.
Representatives of Monger's sponsoring broker, Supreme Lending Group, did not return calls for comment.
Reached Friday, Dennis Churchwell, the owner of the property Ford wants to buy, said he did not know about Monger's criminal and financial troubles.
"They say they're going to buy the property," Churchwell said. "Maybe he's fixing Ford's credit."
Churchwell said he does not yet have a sales contract for the property.
"The deadline is Monday at 12, or all hell's gonna break loose," he said.
Ford said Friday he still plans to purchase the real estate. Asked if he knew about his mortgage broker's past, Ford refused to answer.
"Y'all really pick on people," he said. "I don't have anything to discuss with you."
Ford ping
Tennessee Freepers won’t be surprised.
Neither will former Tennesseer FReepers.
Shaking head. This mortgage broker sounds like the perfect partner to the Ford family.
Churchwell is a criminal himself. He forgave rent payments for a whole year,
in order to get Ford to help get some zoning laws overlooked.
I am under the impression that taxes are not covered by bankruptcy.
“The 61-year-old Monger has a knack for creative financing — including financing so creative that one deal turned the businessman into a convicted felon.”
This guy has the credentials to have his own A&E TV Show on Flip This House.
News 3 this morning said the drunk senator ophelia didn’t make it home yesterday.
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