He wants to warn brokers about these places, because some of them can look like attractive business opportunities on the outside. However, their lack of compliance will likely catch up with them later.
“This is a red flag in the mortgage industry,” Saleh said. “If I were to leave a retail shop or any other brokerage, I could literally walk into a place that shared all the bells and whistles about the place. Only to find out they’re going to be on headline news, and they’re not really following protocol when it comes down to being compliant.”
A veteran of the industry, first at Rocket and now at his own brokerage in the wholesale space, he has seen the industry battle through volatile times. He said no matter how tough things get, businesses must avoid taking shortcuts that could lead to trouble later. This sometimes means losing out in the short-term to a company that isn’t doing things the right way.
“I was around during COVID, and I was around during the mortgage meltdown of 2007 and 2008,” he said. “I was around during Brexit. And one thing that I’ve always learned is to do things compliantly. And sometimes we lose because someone else is not compliant. And what I mean by lose is that many people want to make that 1099. They don’t want to pay the government any money.
“I even know some family members who called me and said, ‘Hey, man, if you pay me 1099, I’ll be over there.’ I said, ‘Nope, I’m going to remain compliant, my friend.’”