A Westport mortgage broker has had its license revoked by the state Banking Department and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.
The state Banking Department said the firm Michael Schulman, doing business as New England Financial, was at 191 Post Road West, Westport (above). But no such firm was listed on the lobby directory there today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
A notice posted on the department’s Web site this week said the Feb. 4 action was taken against Michael Schulman, doing business as New England Financial at 191 Post Road West, because it allegedly employed an unregistered loan originator and failed to answer five complaints.
There was no company by that name listed on the lobby directory at 191 Post Road West today. However, other documents on the Banking Department’s Web site showed a company with the same name variously listed at 21 Bridge Square and 25 Sylvan Road South in Westport as well as 242 New Canaan Ave., Norwalk.
All five complaints had to do with Schulman’s alleged loan originator, Bruce D. Simmons, whom the department said is not registered or licensed as an originator, according to the Web site.
The order said five complaints from potential borrowers came into the department during the last two years, and the follow-up investigation uncovered that Simmons was not registered as an originator.
Michael Schulman’s company did not fully respond to the five complaints either, and the company did not show up for a hearing in December, the department said. As a result, the department revoked the firm’s license and issued the fine.
In a separate hearing, the department ordered Simmons, whose last known address was listed as Berkeley Hill in Westport, to cease and desist activity as an originator and fined him $10,000. He also did not attend a hearing on the matter, according to the department.
The department said Simmons worked for Schulman for almost two years, between Jan. 16, 2007 and Sept. 17, 2008.
