Non-bank originator Exchange Lending has it sounds as if misplaced a certification by means of the U.S. Treasury Division to factor non-qualified mortgages for underserved debtors. 

The lender is not integrated on an up to date listing of companies qualified with the Group Construction Monetary Establishment Fund, in keeping with a file by means of Barron’s Friday. The corporate, based by means of banker Steve Sugarman, was once accused in a June lawsuit of mischaracterizing the debtors it serves. 

The lender, whose dad or mum corporate is The Exchange Corporate CDFI didn’t reply to requests for remark Friday afternoon. The CDFI Fund declined to remark.

The federal government certifies CDFIs to serve Black, Hispanic and low-income communities and lets in the lenders to be exempt from sure rules, just like the Client Monetary Coverage Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule. The “no-doc” lenders, who shouldn’t have to gather borrower revenue documentation, are required to give you the Treasury with knowledge to end up 60% in their loans, each in quantity and buck quantity, are in compliance with CDFI objectives.

Below its CDFI certification since 2018, Exchange Co. has change into one probably the most country’s biggest non-QM originators, with $4.2 billion in quantity ultimate yr. 

A former Exchange Co. worker who filed the lawsuit in June in a California courtroom claims he has documentation appearing the corporate was once “mischaracterizing the race, ethnicity, and revenue degree of debtors.” The criticism additionally alleges the lender made false representations to the consumers of its mortgage-backed securities. The Exchange Co. in June introduced a $307 million securitization of its house loans. 

A Barron’s investigation discovered the corporate in 2022 failed to fulfill its underserved lending necessities, even supposing it instructed the e-newsletter it was once exceeding its necessities. Barron’s reporting additionally published Exchange’s trade with rich debtors, together with actor Johnny Depp.

The e-newsletter additionally famous the lender has got rid of CDFI emblems and references from its website online. 

The corporate’s founder, Sugarman, was once the previous chairman and CEO of Banc of California ahead of resigning amid a Securities and Change Fee probe in 2017. He touted Exchange Lending’s most sensible non-QM standing previous this week in a LinkedIn submit, and two weeks in the past posted an obvious protection in opposition to one of the lending accusations, suggesting the lender was once assembly its CDFI necessities.

“We imagine that Black and Hispanic/Latino debtors who’re credit-worthy must get the very same loans from the very same lender as rich white debtors,” he wrote. “Exchange does no longer discriminate… it serves all who qualify.”