Mortgage agent admits taking bribes

A mortgage agent admitted Friday in federal court in St. Louis that he accepted $47,651 in bribes from two men from California to help them to obtain favorable terms from CitiMortgage Inc.

Derek A. Fenton, 30, of the 200 block of Ashford Oaks Drive in Wentzville, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery for accepting the payments. Richard Mehlinger, 44, and Terry Gale, 42, of Los Angeles, also pleaded guilty to bribery counts in federal court in St. Louis on Friday.

Mehlinger and Gale are mortgage brokers who sought to obtain loans from CitiMortgage Inc., a mortgage company with operations in O'Fallon, Mo. Fenton was an agent for CitiMortgage from November 2002 to June of last year.

Fenton admitted permitting mortgage brokers to backdate loan documents so their clients would receive more favorable terms from CitiMortgage. In return, he accepted bribes totaling $47,751 from them in 20 separate payments from November 2002 to December 2003.

In those dealings Fenton caused CitiMortgage to make 41 loans, with a total value of $19.9 million, the men admitted. Ultimately, CitiMortgage lost more than $400,000 on the loans.

Fenton also admitted accepting smaller cash payments and gifts from other brokers, raising the total in bribes he took to more than $70,000.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.