Opteum + Homestar Direct + Prospect = NLMAA?
Looking deeper into the NLMAA's background reveals ties back to a subprime lender that went broke two years ago. Yes, a company that once went bankrupt selling subprime loans is now trying to make money selling "loan remodification" services to desperate consumers who are stuck with problem mortgages. And they've started a pseudo-industry trade association selling expensive memberships to try to confer legitimacy on the trade.
Consider: Scroll to the bottom of the NLMAA site's pages (all the way down, past the line that looks like the bottom of the page but isn't). Click on the link below and we'll show you the text you find there.
All Information Copyright NLMAA 2008. The NLMAA is an LLC based professional association serving those in the loan modification industry. We provide information and resources to loan modification and foreclosure prevention specialists. The National Loan Modification Association and the NLMAA are programs of Greystack Management, LLC. Although we are trying to develop a solid professional community, we are not a "non-for-profit" organization.
Unlike most professional associations and lobby groups, then, this one is for-profit. That means it can pretty much take money and memberships from anyone it wants and doesn't have to identify them, unlike a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Greystack Management also owns and operates the Affordable Hope Web site, which sells do-it-yourself loan modification prep services for $100, in some sort of cooperative special with the NLMAA, the site says.
So the company that owns the for-profit trade association for the loan modification industry also owns a Web site that sells loan modification information direct to consumers? Isn't that a conflict-of-interest? Affordable Hope displays the seal of the NLMAA, but it doesn't disclose that it also owns the NLMAA.
Whatever Greystack Management is, The Affordable Hope and NLMAA Web sites are both registered to Homestar Direct, another name for Prospect Mortgage, which until recently went by the name of Opteum. That company churned out $44 million in subprime mortgages in 2007, then melted down the same year. California regulators threatened to revoke Opteum's license to do business in that state last year for failiing to file proper paperwork. In September, shareholders sued Opteum, alleging securities fraud.
We called James Troia, the registrant for Homestar and the NLMAA on Friday, April 17 at about 2:20 p.m. to ask him about the connections between Opteum, Homestar, Greystack Management, Affordable Hope and the NLMAA.
We'll let you know what we hear back.