Another Employee Allegedly Canned For Disclosing Fraudulent Lending Practices Files Whistleblower Lawsuit

The Associated Press reports:

• A former employee of Countrywide KB Home Loans has filed a lawsuit claiming he was wrongly fired after he reported fraudulent lending practices to superiors and refused to approve mortgages for unqualified applicants. The federal lawsuit was brought by Mark Zachary, a regional vice president and manager of the Countrywide KB Home Loans division in Houston. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the joint venture of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and builder KB Home.

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• In the suit, Zachary contended he was given an excellent performance review last February then fired three months later after he blew the whistle on fellow employees and outlined instances in which appraisers were "being strongly encouraged to inflate homes' appraised value by as much as 6 percent." That resulted in buyers owing more than their home was worth, Zachary claimed in the lawsuit filed Jan. 17 in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas. [...] Zachary said he was fired after he failed to meet a quota for new loan approvals because he refused to clear unqualified applicants, according to the complaint.

For more, see Fired Worker Sues KB Home, Countrywide.

Go here for other posts on whistleblower suits involving alleged fraudulent mortgage lending practices.