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Mortgage Consultant/Teacher Mentor, CMP |
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Peter's navigated through downturns and upswings alike several times; because of that
knowledge and experience he helps business owners, corporate executives and mortgage professionals
manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they
can achieve their goals, grow their business, and be more
successful.
As a 'Certified Mortgage Professional' mortgage broker/banker
consultant, industry advocate, mentor and expert witness for the industry; because
of his past colorful, innovative, and successful financial results in this
industry, at this point in his career, Mr. Cugno enjoys the luxury of
being able to pick & choose what he does with his time. Of
late, he has been expanding the Secret!
University educational & training division of Americas Money Center,
Inc. His colorful personality -- his wit, outspokenness, and
self-confidence -- is part of the equation, too. Few financial
services executives speak so candidly; so often. His institutional and entrepreneurial know-how, in various
aspects of the lending credit industry, with a heavy compliance
focused background, has been a useful resource
in helping others achieve the success levels they feel they are
entitled to. Although his company has been a
direct FreddieMac Seller/servicer (#0008973) and had it's own FHA
'Eagle' as well, mainly in
his career
to date, Peter
has specifically focused on consumer
mortgage lending in the non-conforming residential real
estate lending industry sector, and has been in the industry since
before RESPA was enacted and longer than Freddie Mac, and before
Fannie Mae started doing conventional lending! He enjoys helping
young and growing organizations and individuals who really want to become
successful.
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Summary
of qualifications |
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n
Peter has successfully started-up from scratch, nine mortgage lending
industry related companies. Along
with several retail and wholesale operations in the High LTV Second
Mortgage, and the non-conforming 1st & 2nd mortgage
subprime loan industry niche. n
Unique to some, he has a thorough understanding of what a
'sense of
urgency' really means. Challenging
assignments and responsibilities, he's strongly attracted to. Both
in secured or unsecured consumer lending, he has the proven ability
to complete any and all complicated management and operational
tasks. n
Mr. Cugno has always worked effectively with all levels of management as well
as subordinates. When necessary he is a team player, and one of those
“Generals” who gets into the trenches with his people to help
get the job done. He
very much enjoys his teaching/training role ever since he's been in
this business. Peter seems to continuously be attracted to "where
the action is." n
Peter is widely considered the inventor of the High LTV Second Mortgage,
with 40+ years operating experience in the subprime & High
LTV ‘Seconds’ industry sector.
After leaving a 14-year career as a retail subprime portfolio
lender with Beneficial, in the early 1980’s he started-up a
successful nationwide wholesale High LTV & subprime second
mortgage lending operation. With
this foundation and using our subsequent FreddieMac Seller/Servicer status,
his company invented the High LTV second
mortgage product when 70% CLTV was common.
Its trade marked 90TM
SECOND Second in 1981, and the 100% CLTV second
mortgage product in 1988, were forerunners of today’s High LTV
second mortgage product. He
later came down with Cancer, and left operations.
Peter became a ‘Mortgage Lender Consultant’ in the Fall 1996
for a couple of years, before returning to operations. He has been widely published and quoted in various publications - Wall
Street Journal, New York Times, National Thrift News, Origination
News, Home Equity News, Scotsman Guide, National Mortgage News etc., about various
training & mortgage lending operations.
Before be became too ill to travel comfortably, one of his
last national speaking engagement hosted by industry publisher
powerhouse Source Media, their
Subprime & 125% National Lending
Conference in Miami Florida, ‘High
LTV Loans – Big Business Or Risky Business – Obstacles &
Secret Solutions’. |
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Professional
experience |
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Spring 1999
to present AMERICAS MoneyCenter,
Inc./ Secret! University
San Pedro, CA ¨ Created a totally Internet based retail subprime
mortgage lending platform from scratch, doing business nationwide.
Utilizing his completely new concept, the 'Secret! System,' originated
nearly 2,200 transactions for over $175Million, as well as
attracting almost 250,000 visitors to his website in its first 3 years of operations. It is a total departure from the way the most
innovative operator runs an origination company. It utilizes a
website like an ATM Machine to totally replace the need for Loan Officers, and replaces
a minimum of four back office staffers www.americasmoneycenter.com Fall/Winter 1998
Laguna Hills, CA ¨
Engaged by two different firms. Both small "A
paper" mortgage brokerage operations who wanted to do Subprime &
High LTV. Peter organized,
directed, set up procedures and planning for growth and
re-direction. On-site, he hired and trained ten (10) management trainee types
(green peas with no previous loan experience) to be able to operate
in this business (would reduce loan officer overall payroll by at
least 70%). In 5 weeks,
they became productive (taking 1003's, selecting 3 alternative loan
offers to suggest to potential borrowers, fax out initial
paperwork to borrowers [including Good Faith] follow-up daily, get
back papers, extract appraisal money - credit card method) and put
the transaction then into the processing department.
These brand new green peas did it all, with very little
supervision. Due in no small measure to
his own individual contacts, he persuaded a funding
source to approve these thinly capitalized companies for a $2.5
Million warehouse line. Set
up e-mail doc prep/signing department; bulk e-mail solicitation,
signed-up company as a correspondent experienced in subprime & 125%
with 15 funding sources (when only he and his management trainee
class had much knowledge of subprime). Summer 1998
to present
Tustin, CA ¨
The largest training facility for the mortgage lender,
The American School of Mortgage Banking, was founded in 1978. In
addition to his Ethics & Integrity classrooms
sessions which he taught for them, Mr. Cugno entered into a joint venture type
'controlled business arrangement', to provide various consulting
services for their nationwide Client base. Including ongoing guidance in both retail and wholesale operations,
existing department/division analysis; start-up turnkey operations
in the subprime & 125% arena, etc. Sponsored by the school, he started a series of seminars "Advanced Executive Subprime
& High LTV Lending Workshop."
An improved understanding of non-conforming subprime &
High LTV second mortgage lending was essential, before the
inexperienced hurt, and maybe killed this industry niche with their
misguided actions. Summer 1998 Aliso Viejo, CA BUYER/OPERATOR……………… ¨
Along with a secret East Coast institutional thrift
investor & former Governor of New Jersey, Peter executed a letter of intent to purchase a 21-year-old Mortgage
Banking operation. It
had 100+ employee, 15 brick & mortar branches and was licensed in 32
States; they had centered
exclusively on 125%'ers. As
he operated the business during the 8 week escrowed Due Diligence phase,
several compliance issues came to his attention which negatively
influenced his feelings about the sale, Mr. Cugno backed away from the
close in time. Summer
1998
Hollywood, CA ¨ Peter
answered 2 hours of questions about industry history
and where it's going, over brunch one Saturday morning. Also, detailed attitudes and skill set levels of typical
loan officer Brokers vs. Correspondents vs. Institutional Lenders
for this popular Los Angeles FM Radio Star.
In place of massive retail direct mailing by mortgage
operators, they were about to offer a custom made videotaped
solicitation piece, for mass distribution to focus-listed potential
borrowers. The client's company
had successfully done the same thing for local area automobile
dealers; they felt the mortgage business was ripe for such an
innovation. Spring
1998
Miami,
Fl ¨ A federal savings bank engaged
Peter for his minimum
20-hour engagement fee. Spent
3 hours reviewing their 87 page response to his ’20 Question’
questionnaire. The
remaining 17 hours, they recorded and he answered several hundred
industry related questions. Their focal point was all about, who, what, where, when, why,
and how, etc. to open a Subprime & High LTV 125% operation. A
‘step by step detailed blueprint’, how to get there from step
one. Spring 1998
Irvine,
CA CONSULTANT
Trainer…………… Winter/Spring 1998
Newport
Beach, CA n
Once again, engaged to create from scratch, a
wholesale mortgage banking operation, focusing on High LTV 125%
seconds – this was to be a start-up division.
Company was two people, one “girl-Friday” and owner (1st
mortgage type loan broker). He
wanted to grow his company, get into wholesale subprime & 125%.
From Peter's office location, he provided him with 20 hours
telephone support and wrote a blueprint/manual for him to get going
down-stream to a 4 employee company (the clients near term goal). Summer 1997 to Winter 1998
Aliso
Viejo, CA ¨ This assignment was to create and operate from scratch, a wholesale mortgage banking operation, focusing on High LTV 125% Seconds – this was to be a start-up. Several former bank people, who operated a 3-year-old 1st mortgage lending operation in Northern California, owned this mortgage brokerage. They opened in Southern California to do wholesale. Hands-on, on-site, Mr. Cugno set up the entire infrastructure to accommodate 500 funded loans monthly. In record time, 46 days after his engagement, the company was ready to do business (they did not continue to follow the operational plan he had set in motion, they moved back to Northern California later and ultimately out of wholesale). You can only lead them to water - drinking - well that's another matter :-} Spring/Summer
1997
Laguna Hills, CA n
This assignment was to analyze the west coast wholesale
department on-site, at the largest High LTV nationwide lender/securitizer. Wholesale
had been open for six months when Peter accepted the assignment,
this location's best
month ever was ‘70’ funded 125% loans.
First day he recommended closing it immediately (it was a
train-wreck).
The wholesale operator & number 2 man had only 1st
mortgage “conforming” retail experience, and had never done
wholesale! 16 weeks
later, his recommendation was the same.
They closed down this west coast operation entirely Fall 1998. |
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n Engaged by an FDIC insured thrift, to create a High
LTV 125% & Subprime wholesale mortgage banking division for
this 67-year-old retail portfolio lender.
It had no wholesale operation whatsoever – this was to be a
start-up division for them. They
wanted to have one, because they were For Sale at that time; they believed
their sale price would be higher with it.
Peter made one for them, hands-on and on-site.
From day one, to make ready for loan number one, it took 91
days setting up infrastructure, lines, investors, hiring, training,
etc. (they sold and got top dollar due to the added division). Engaged
to repair a disaster in the "Promise Keeper" department,
quickly enough so the company would not get shut down. This 6-year-old nationwide mortgage brokerage operation,
had sold nationally 1,589 (franchises) ‘Associates’, at $14,995
each, to put them into the mortgage broker business.
Home Office Promise
Keeper department personnel could not properly handle their
“associates” loans as promised.
Company was on it's last legs under attack by several regulators from a number
of States, and had
numerous class action suits filed against it.
While Company was sinking like a rock and operating capital
was very tight. The eleven weeks he
helped on-site, owner continued to suck out $10,000 monthly in
payroll for himself. The
company quickly ran out of money; the owner skipped town and the company
folded. |
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n
Because of the Reagan Tax Reform legislation, a
“finance-lease” animal was born. Through a network of financial
type wholesale/retail financial broker types and equipment
suppliers, Peter developed and operated an out of the ordinary
(100%CLTV) residential real property collateralized small-ticket
business equipment finance-lease independent asset finance company.
It provided needed equipment funding for the A to B credit
quality self employed customer, by adding real property
collateralizing documents, in addition to the usual commercial
business equipment lease paperwork.
During February 1990, his company instituted the simple notion of “No
More Outbound Paper Docs," no more costly FedEx back and forth.
The previous prehistoric way was a waste of time & money. Instead, they utilized faxing out docs right from their
computers, both to broker and/or borrowers (Lessees) alike.
It was much faster and with never a significant problem. Doing
production activities docs out via e-mail etc. via Internet, was
installed in mid-1995. As
far as the quality and delinquency: the very first 10-day delinquent
customer, did not even surface until 37 months after origination!
The first charge-off partial loss, was 51 months after
origination. Peter closed his company due to illness. |
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Sept 1979 to May 1987
Financial
Services Holding Company, Inc. (and
divisions) Covina
CHAIRMAN & CEO ......
n
The State of California, Department of Corporations
introduced some favorable net worth regulatory changes in the Fall
of 1979. Now a
potential “DOC” licensee could apply for approval certification
with only $25,000 in liquid net worth. Previously
it was 10 times that amount. Right
at the onset of the “B/C broker business” in California, Mr.
Cugno was
founder of the Financial
Services Family of Companies. (detailed below - at
it's height, the overall organization employed 66 salaried people with a
monthly 'nut' of $346,000+). Supervised
the various wholly owned company Presidents on a day to day basis,
handled all secondary market trades (when a vibrant secondary market
for second mortgages did not even exist yet), was corporate liaison
to banks, institutional investor/buyers, and credit indemnity
insurance carriers. His
personal highest achievement at that time, he personally invented the
second mortgage High LTV lending concept – the 90TM
SECOND Second. Almost
as exciting, the organization became one of the very first
FreddieMac Second Mortgage Seller/Servicers in the country
(#0008973).
FreddieMac was investor/buyer number 37 for the company, the
other 36 were commercial banks and savings & loan associations
– all of whom had never bought loans from across the country, servicing retained by
his firm,
and who had never funded
even one second mortgage, in their entire company history! That, was an arduous and complex 'close' those days. Unlike
today, at that time there was low public acceptance of 2nds, very
vague institutional investor/buyer understanding & confidence in
what they thought was the 'new' second mortgage & subprime business.
An
industry which was more than 60 years old at the time!
Borrower acceptance today is staggering, but Wall Street and
the institutional investors still need to better understand this industry
sector. His company had a $1.9 Million embezzlement by his hand-picked company
President who disappeared; |
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n
As an aggressive marketer, Peter started-up one of the
largest A paper and non-conforming home equity wholesale lending operations in
California. During
it’s 9 years of coast to coast operations operating on both a
retail & wholesale bases, loans averaged roughly
$17,000 each; typically closing 2,500 to 3,000
individual transactions annually.
The company funded upwards of $200 Million via a nationally
prominent advertising and marketing campaign.
Through volume wholesale disciplined telemarketing and direct
mail to it's broker base of 10,000, quarterly wholesale seminars,
along with wholesale and retail trade show booths, etc. all around the
Southland. It's broker
population would fly in for the quarterly seminars, 200 to 500 per
meeting would attend where prizes of exotic trips and cash were the
norm; at one point the company gave away a briefcase with $10,000 in
currency inside it, at another, a brand new 4 door Chrysler sedan
was awarded ... Company wide
production increased year after year. Throughout this period, company delinquency was well below national averages of those posted by the MBA
and in
National Second Mortgage Association publications (which included
Beneficial). Actual annual loan losses were considerably less than
1% each year for the following 15 years. Within 3 years of it's founding, the
company was one of the first to develop a private placement
Securitization of it's production, but never completed it, as the
minimum number of loans needed to qualify was above 250 individual
transactions, yet the young and growing company at the time, was
only able to secure a warehouse line for approximately 100
transactions. He introduced automation into the loan delivery system,
streamlining the former manual processes by utilizing extensive
computerized systems in 1983 (Victor was the first PC - they had four
of them back then), at a time when PC’s were new on the business
scene. The company did not 'originate to
distribute'; due to his
extensive background as a portfolio lender, an attitude much
different than a mortgage broker or mortgage banker correspondent type, Peter was
the first to successfully develop and use second mortgage 'credit
enhancements' to protect company institutional investor/buyers. Peter
knew if he “punched them in the nose” HE would bleed. Mr.
Cugno learned
this valuable life-long lesson from an executive at Beneficial
Finance Company (The Mother Company) when he was a young trainee -
you are your brother's keeper in this industry. It still applies
today - good
faith and fair dealing is the only way to go. |
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n
Developed a mortgage loan servicing company, which
grew to 4,500+ accounts and over $100 Million (larger than
Countrywide at that time) of home equity loans serviced (at a 71
basis point average spread). As mentioned above, the servicing
company serviced for all 37 institutional investors (including
FreddieMac), plus non-company related organizations as well. This 2,000 square foot, 10-employee business, contributed to
the holding company monthly, after all its expenses, a net $35,000+
bottom-line profit. |
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Established a full service computerized independent
public escrow company, closing 300+ files monthly, from both
affiliated companies and local banks, credit unions, mortgage
companies and savings & loan institutions. These
outside non-controlled business arrangement lenders etc., paid all
escrow company overhead. Affiliated
company accounts were the cream. They
controlled the transaction timeline at every turn. |
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Education
and Special Training |
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Pasadena
City College •
Business Administration Beneficial
Management Institute • Graduated
- Personnel Evaluation Program • Planned
Accelerated Career Experience Harvard
Business School • Executive
Management Program Conference(s) The
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania • Advanced
Management Seminars National
Association of Review Appraisers & Mortgage Underwriters • Certified
Review Appraiser (CRA) - Senior Member •
Registered Mortgage
Underwriter (RMU) - Senior Member
Honorable Discharge United States Army • Fort Bliss - El Paso, Texas
Secret! University • Certified Mortgage Professional
Certified Instructor Number COAFS-04-374620 •
State of California - Department of Consumer Affairs •
Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education •
California Education Code Section 94915
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Trade
Marks and Publications |
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As referred to above, in the early 1980’s
his company
was a nationwide wholesale second mortgage lender; who invented the
High LTV second mortgage loan product here in California.
At that time, 70% to 75% CLTV’s were common.
Their trade marked 90TM
SECOND Second was the very first of its kind in the country, it
was the forerunner of today’s High LTV 125% second
mortgage loan product. Peter
has been interviewed and widely quoted about the second mortgage
lending industry’s historical background, subprime, and how they
relate to operating today. Peter and Dave Olson (who later went on to operate Wholesale Access
in Maryland) introduced non-conforming (subprime) to Stan Strachan
(founder of National Thrift News - predecessor to today's National
Mortgage News) and through him, the conventional residential real
estate loan industry. Where later Mr. Cugno was published and been used and quoted by several publications like the Wall
Street Journal, New York Times, CBS Market Watch, National Thrift News (now
Origination News & National Mortgage News), HomeEquityWire, The
Mortgageland Journal, Home Equity News,
Los Angeles Times, Broker Tips, Scotsman Guide, Orange County Register, plus many other smaller
local and national publications. |
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American
Association of Equipment Lessors |
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Additional
professional activities |
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Peter is a well read, financial industry informed Type
A – High Charger self motivated, results oriented professional
entrepreneur type, who goes far beyond usual activities and normal
hours, to secure positive conclusions to any job assignment.
An accomplished and seasoned trainer and speaker, with many
credits from coast to coast. These include seminars, conferences,
and hands-on workshops for several of the national and regional
trade associations, such as the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the United Association of Equipment Leasing
(UAEL). As a past
member of MBA's Education Committee, in a teaching-training
capacity, he was involved in providing ideas, guidance and direction
regarding the content of their comprehensive educational programs in
real estate finance and ancillary activities for their School of
Mortgage Banking. Correspondence courses, and seminars, such as
single-family underwriting, residential processing, appraisal
review, secondary marketing and management training. As
a formerly active member of UAEL and NAELB, Peter became involved in
discussions during the late 1980's, surrounding the emerging Asset
Backed Securities market. Urging "standardized" guidelines and
documentation, and in encouraging the secondary market traditional
institutional investor types, to look more closely at equipment
finance-leases, as intermediate term investments. Along with
exploring the possibilities of asset sales to knowledgeable
individual investors. Having his own company website (and being quite
active on Internet since October 1994, along with being a member of
the Internet Committee at UAEL), he stayed at the forefront of
this evolving technology and its impact on business activities. As an “ideas man”, Peter's enthusiasm and subtle wit come
from years of intense hands-on experience in financial matters of
all kinds. Including
but not limited to, formerly being a licensed notary public and an
insurance agent (CA #0355777), for more than 30 years, and in
exploring and pioneering new markets for cross-selling installment
sales finance operations, secured and unsecured consumer lending,
business equipment finance leasing. Along
with searching the market for new products and services, Mr. Cugno
is always in search of new methods for improving operating &
marketing techniques. Recently
Peter has become a Certified Instructor # COAFS-04-374620, approved
under the California Education Code Section 94915 Bureau for Private
Postsecondary and Vocational Education. |
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Outside
Interests |
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After
almost 20 years of being happily married, Peter is now divorced.
He's a father of three and grandfather of five. Peter
is very pro wildlife conservation, loves animals and enjoys handgun and skeet
shooting. Since they first came out, Peter welcomes today's
technology, and values the
positive part it can play in business, since he started in
business pre-computers.
He has had them in his companies since 1983; he knows most
Microsoft business programs. Peter spends many
hours reading and on the Internet researching his industry. He has the need
to know “Why” and he finds out! On
a side note, Peter also holds the land speed record (in his
Formula One 512BBi Ferrari) from Covina,
California to Las Vegas, Nevada - exactly two (2) hours, flat
:-} |
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References |
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Later, expanded to include a leading industry educational training division called 'Secret!
University' in the late Summer of 2002, to provide mortgage broker
banker training, education, information, and solutions. Educating the Mortgage
Professional.