I'm a loan originator at a community bank. My initials are listed on our computer system for loans I originate. That means I'm the one who's supposed to follow up if the payment is late or there's other issues with a loan, such as if the insurance has lapsed or the real estate taxes aren't paid.
However, previous employees originated loans at my branch, then retired or quit. The initials on many of these loans have been changed to mine, and the responsibility for maintaining and collecting on these loans falls to me. One of these is Betty the Restaurateur (see the threads about her), but there's a handful of other loans that I would never have to collect on if the higher ups at the bank hadn't decided that suddenly they're my responsibility for no better reason than somebody at my branch originated them.
So today I'm asked to follow up on a dozen customers who haven't paid their property taxes. Only two of them are for loans that I actually originated. The rest are loans that I inherited from former coworkers. Some are loans that I would never have approved had I been the loan officer for that loan.
I get that somebody has to call customers when they're late on payments or real estate taxes. The only explanation as to why it has to be me is that I have a relationship with these customers, but I really don't. Most of them I'd never even spoken to until their loans became "my" loans. And if I can't get hold of the customers or if I can't get the customers to take responsibility for their debt, it reflects poorly on me. Even though I didn't approve the loan.
<sigh>
However, previous employees originated loans at my branch, then retired or quit. The initials on many of these loans have been changed to mine, and the responsibility for maintaining and collecting on these loans falls to me. One of these is Betty the Restaurateur (see the threads about her), but there's a handful of other loans that I would never have to collect on if the higher ups at the bank hadn't decided that suddenly they're my responsibility for no better reason than somebody at my branch originated them.
So today I'm asked to follow up on a dozen customers who haven't paid their property taxes. Only two of them are for loans that I actually originated. The rest are loans that I inherited from former coworkers. Some are loans that I would never have approved had I been the loan officer for that loan.
I get that somebody has to call customers when they're late on payments or real estate taxes. The only explanation as to why it has to be me is that I have a relationship with these customers, but I really don't. Most of them I'd never even spoken to until their loans became "my" loans. And if I can't get hold of the customers or if I can't get the customers to take responsibility for their debt, it reflects poorly on me. Even though I didn't approve the loan.
<sigh>
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