Sandoval fires Nevada’s mortgage lending commissioner

Nevada Mortgage Lending Division Commissioner Joseph Waltuch, who took office on the eve of Nevada’s financial industry collapse, has been fired by Gov. Brian Sandoval’s administration, effective Feb. 18.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve the citizens of Nevada, and I have just appreciated the opportunity to do so,” Waltuch said.

Deputy Commission Nancy Corbin will serve as acting commissioner until Terry Johnson, director of the Business & Industry Department, names a replacement, the department said.

Waltuch was paid $97,901 yearly, but another pay schedule for the position allows for an $88,398 annual salary.

Former Gov. Jim Gibbons appointed Waltuch to the position in September 2007, and Waltuch encountered controversy almost immediately.

The Assembly speaker at the time, Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, criticized his appointment because he had been senior counsel of regulatory and legislative affairs at failed New Century Financial Corp., once the nation’s largest subprime residential mortgage lender.

At the Mortgage Lending Division, Waltuch is responsible for regulating hard-money lenders, who solicit money from individual investors and lend it to developers. He also regulates mortgage brokers, escrow companies, mortgage modification consultants and others in financial services.

In the months that followed his appointment, Waltuch dealt with administrative violations by Compass Partners, which was servicing loans at bankrupt USA Capital without a license.

USA Capital, which was managing $966 million in assets for 6,000 investors when it filed for bankruptcy, was the state’s largest hard-money lending failure. The entire hard-money lending business imploded because of the real estate collapse. Most hard-money lenders are managing foreclosed real estate for investors, because their loans are in default.

Waltuch negotiated a settlement with hard-money lender OneCap Mortgage and then revoked its license. He has negotiated a $200,000 fine from hard-money lender CM Capital, formerly known as Consolidated Mortgage, but Consolidated has not paid the fine.

Johnson expressed appreciation for Waltuch’s service in the position.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at
jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.