Personal Finance

Rock Financial's David Hall Leaves Lender

I had the opportunity to work at Rock Financial for most of the calendar year 1997. The company was still relatively small and their central preoccupation at the time was to catch their chief rival, Standard Federal Bank in the total number of mortgages funded. I left in early November that year taking a position as a mortgage banker at a competing bank and at that time, they had still had not closed the gap. The Rock Financial/Quicken Loans we know now is absolutely nothing like the company I knew back then. It was a competitive and enterprising environment. Dare I say “fun”? Their ideas about how to do business were innovative and surprisingly successful. However as they grew, things changed. They were sold, after what I’m sure was an offer only a fool would refuse (making their little Napoleon a millionaire overnight) and then subsequently re-purchased, rehashed, reformulated and regurgitated. One thing has remained as constant as the northern star throughout all of their iterations – David Hall. He is the cockroach of the mortgage lending industry; infallible and seemingly indestructible in the face of enormous change and tremendous upheaval. When I was first introduced to David Hall he had the demeanor of a badger. Irritable, contemptible and lacking any interest in anything or anyone who did not contribute to his bottom line. He acted with impunity. He strutted about the offices (in Bingham Farms) like a rooster on patrol. It was evident that he was a corporate darling and one of the few fair-haired boys that made Danny boy a lot of money. His actions were irrefutable and on more than one occasion he left his poor processor (we’ll call her D.) in tears. His partner at that time was a living saint for putting up with his nonsense (we’ll refer to her as S.) His brother Jason, with whom I trained, was an ancillary part of the team Hall machine. He had very little clout at the time and little say in any of the decisions. He was a cocky kid, fresh out of school and an enduring resident of his older brother’s shadow. He had great respect for his brother and in particular, his brother’s talent in golf. It was often mentioned during our three week long training session that David was trying to qualify for the US Open that summer. Eeessh! Part of the training process for new recruits at that time was to “trail” what were considered senior or qualified “successful” mortgage bankers. The idea was that the observation, in a very up close and personal manner, of the daily routine of someone deemed observable would lead to an emulation of said habits or practices and the hopeful incorporation into ones own repertoire. That week with David Hall was a real eye opener. His lack of respect for anyone, even at a baser level, was appalling. I felt uncomfortable and intrusive and availed myself of any opportunity to slip out of “trail mode” and do my own thing during that week. His partner, S, was very sweet and tried to be helpful but she was distracted ad nauseum by the inner conflicts of team Hall. Ultimately, I’m sure David was grateful I made myself scare. After my training I embarked on a 6-month kick at the can in the Rock Financial’s conventional loan division. It was an unmitigated failure due to circumstances beyond my control and not worth a breath now. Although it might be worth mentioning and certainly defensible that my processor was Methuselah’s mother. I’m sure that David Hall’s dismissal had something or everything to do with money because it is the glue that binds all of them at Rock Financial into one ugly band of mercenary asshats!! Never were the words – “time wounds all heels” ever more apropos.  (Feb 15, 2008 | post #8)