"In looking into your Ryan Katz connections, I noticed a real good one. His company Student Loan Consolidation Center is a client of lobbyist Mark Valente.great catch, indeed. if any aspiring bloggers out there want instant fame - check out the lobbying/financing in this industry - it's ripe for unravelling. i've noticed a couple of msm articles lately about it, but there's much more. start by googling 'boehner and sallie mae' and work from there.
Mark Valente is the treasurer for Mike Ferguson's MIKE PAC, who got $8K each from the Katz brothers."
and take a close look - not only at ryan and cary - but also look at other donors from their companies, and also look at the companies that both ryan and cary used to work for - just search opensecrets.org for ryan katz and cary katz and you can see which companies they used to work for - they actually started donating heavily before they launched their own companies - i havent got the time to look at the mo - i think one was called ELC or something.
i think you'll find that you can help turn the screws on some of the other californian congresscritters who are currently under suspicion of corruption... and isn't that fun?
have at it. blog fame awaits.
dumpmike, dump all of em
for my other katz posts, see here, here, here and here
32 comments:
Hi I am an Aussie who used to work for Cary Katz's company, College Loan Corporation. CLC always seemed pretty ethical and compliant with the rules when I was there. If you want more of insight into how they worked, then see the site that I set up just last week, FAFSA Loan. Definitely a work in progress.
Also on the education front, I have another much more complete site, San Diego Computer Certification Schools.
thnx paul
I worked for College Loan Corporation as well and I quit because I hated having to follow a scripted sales presentation that you couldn't deviate from. I also found the training to be inadequate and communication between management and sales non-existent. We told the borrowers we wouldn't sell their loans and then WE SOLD THEIR LOANS. We told borrowers they would earn a rebate without any form being submitted then were told IF THEY DIDN'T SUBMIT THEIR FORM THEY DIDN'T GET A REBATE. Very young and inexperienced managers who spent their time with their girlfriend in their office with the door closed or with their friends who were on their team (if you can believe that). Unfair and unequal treatment and I quit because I felt dirty when I went home every day after following their scripted lies.
i've been following this blog with interest since i currently work for mr cary katz at clc. tho' i don't have any complaints about the job or mr katz i did wonder about all the layoffs. I thought it odd that most of the time the ones let go had sales numbers higher than ones that stayed. i read that theres a maryland mafia so i looked up the individuals still there with lower sales figures on myspace and lo and behold they all seem to have graduated from the university of maryland. hmmmmm. mr katz may be a good guy and all but he's out of touch with the sales team. the vp lisa richards is a hard edged east coaster who thinks you have to bully the students to be a good salesperson. i'm sure she doesn't have a college degree and she comes across as very blue collar. brooks is clueless on how to relate to people and isnt any more a manager then the janitor. half of the people there are his buddies and the other half are kevins (univ of maryland alum). kevin is hands on but still takes care of his bro's. mr katz it's time to take a look at your management and get a clue. there's no job security at clc and i've got my resume out there. time to work for a more professional company with professional sales approach. you cant hard sell the parents for parent loans any longre and it won't work with the home loan side either. wake up. later.
Just to make sure the facts are straight, the guy 2 posts above, R Benson was fired for unethical practices. I know because I sat near him. He didn't follow the script because he seemed to lie to people and stretch the truth. (just my opinion from listening to him but I do remember he was fired and he kind of seemed like an uneducated punk anyway). We were all so glad when management fired him because he seemed unethical and made us all look bad. As for the management, i think they were ok but I was there just a year. I didn't know two of the people mentioned but the Lisa the previous person mentioned was the best sales manager I ever had. She was strict but it always seemed to be in the best interests of helping the students, not the other way around. My friend (who also reads these posts) got fired because he was rude to someone on the phone and they fired him (sorry D). He knows it was his fault. It's weird how people look at the same person and think COMPLETELY differently. I left the company because I moved because of family reasons and found this blog because I was looking for another student loan company in my new town. I imagine the guy who wrote the post above me isn't a very good salesperson and maybe that is why he (or she) doesn't feel job security. One thing I do remember is that they had a lot of people there who worked there for a long time and seemed to love it. Like I said, it has been a while since I was there but it seemed like a good company, ethical and I made pretty good money. I just had to say that.
I work for CLC and a lot of what the author is saying is true. I think a lot of people don’t know what it takes to run a business; there are a lot of gray areas. I’ve made over 100K all 3 years I’ve been here, and I’m young! I think most of you are jealous and need to move from beautiful San Diego and live in the mid-west. You’re just taking up space here:-(
This has been really good job in past which is no longer the case. Truth is only loan consultants with many serial leads did well because of unfairness of points for serial business. It shows when serial loans fund. It also true lc with better sales numbers are let go--friends of Kevin and Brooks stay. You have to kiss the idiot behinds to keep job and Kevin and Brooks will keep hiring women in bars they meet to replace the better sales people. Its truth! Cary must write the other things here.
employee update
mark brenner is no longer with clc.
Does history repeat itself? Enron was doing well; but then, off shore companies were opened. CLC was doing well; but then, CLC Home Loans is opened in a questionable market. Before the collapse of Enron a top executive, Jeffery Skilling, left the company. Before the collapse of CLC a top executive, Mark Brenner whom started CLC, left the company. Time will tell...sooner than later.
mark Brenner started the company? What? Whoever made that comment doesn't know the facts. I know who Mark is and he didn't start with the company until 2 years after it started. It is weird how false rumors spread.
the biggest problem at clc i see is that cary has two incompetent douchebags as sales managers. i don't care about how cary got started in the business but i do care that the playing field is not even and there is so much political favoritism. kiss kevin and brook's ass and you are ok. it truely doesn't matter what your sales numbers are as they can (and have) made up ridiculous reasons to let better reps go with better numbers so they can bring on their latest conquest or ho they met in a bar to their team. some have been my friends. have you looked at some of the new lcs? i hate going to work every day knowing i have to work harder than the favored ones there.and kevin and brooks know as do the rest of us that they were no sales superstars. they are two of the biggest peter principle examples i have ever seen. horrible management and no people skills and a lot of good people have had their lives impacted by their favoritism and horrible management. you two make me sick and i am so close to walking in one day and telling you both how i hate your effin guts. its a small world and karma's a bitch.
Did Mark Brenner take a lifeboat before the Titanic hit the iceberg? You have to ask yourself why he left should a strong growing company; smoke and mirrors?
Can you elaborate on the favoritism? Like I said, I have been there 2 years and I haven't seen it. I am guessing you just aren't good at sales. I'm not defending these guys as the best managers in the world but you seem very bitter. Why don't you just quit?
I have no idea why CLC would open a mortgage company in this market. If the house of cards is going to fall soon, the honest hard working bees will be the last to know…wait, the honest hard working bees of New Century mortgage were the last to know, I guess forget Enron.
Related to the Wilkes scandal?! Just check out the similarities and check out the relationship between Marcus Katz and Robert DeRose who was just suspended in the lender scandal from Student Loan Xpress. This is the same Marcus barred from the student loan business in Georgia for defrauding the students. Look also into
*Cary Katz <---Same type of business, brothers
College Loan Corporation
13075 Old Winery Rd.
Poway, California 92064
*Ryan Katz <---Same type of business, brothers, moved business to San Diego, now Goal Financial
Student Loan Consolidation Ctr
1200 Janneys Lane
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-3803
Poway Donations: Poway, CA....Also home to another famous resident: Brent Wilkes. Check out the amounts and frequency of the donations.
Friends of Mike Ferguson: Link to R. and C. K.
Ryan Katz, Cary Katz = $400 & $2100 same day 5/25/05
Friends of Mike Ferguson
Poker partier: Looks like C. K. likes to play poker.
Poker Stats at Cardplayer
more stats: the herndon mob Poker? Watergate hospitality suites?
I am willing to bet that Foggo & Goss had other players there too!
I don’t know if this is true; but I heard that CLC ex General Council Mark Brenner is helping authorities so he doesn’t go to jail. Does anyone know why he left the company?
CLC Home Loan closes 4/20/07. Out of the mortgage business.
thnx for the update, anon.
1. General Council calls it quits
2. CLC Home loans calls it quits
I guess I need to get my resume together before CLC calls it quits with all the talk in the news about the student loan industry!
Anon?
Where did you hear about General Counsel Mark Brenner? I am trying to keep an open mind here on all sides. I was with the company when they helped defeat the single rule which was good for students. I dont know why he left the company. Maybe he did something wrong and got fired. If you know something let us know. I worked for another company before and College Loan looks like saints compared to them. I dont know for sure but it seems like they follow the rules.
Company has laid off 75 people in the last month alone and there are more to come. The ship is slowly sinking, sinking, sinking. I guess Cary is not the brilliant business person after all since he cant bribe the democrats in power now to do his dirty work.
thnx anon. good to hear. (except for the unemployed people!
Good to hear?????
Lukery, I don't know what kind of bone you have to pick with this company or a Katz but I submit that either you don't know half the story OR you are just bitter for some unknown reason. Do you know ANY facts on how the company or a Katz has hurt students in ANY way? I have read the blogs and see no facts. The bashers, including you seemingly have an agenda but no facts for your disparaging remarks. If you have any facts, I am all ears. I have definite bias because I know the student loan industry very well but I am an ethical person. What I have learned is that private lenders offer better service and better rates (with back end benefits) than the government does. The last poster insinuates that someone bribed Rebublicans. While these are strong accusations, I would like to know if anyone can supply any facts. I do happen to know that one major reason some small student loan companies worked with politicians is to allow for more competition and choice for the consumer. Do your homework. That work with Congress actually resulted in eliminating something called the single lender rule which allowed many large lenders from having a virtual monopoly on a persons loans and not allowing for competition. The naysayers and bitter people I have read on here either have a personal agenda or don't really know the facts. If ANYONE knows anything that was done unethically or against the law, I sure would like to know. What "dirty work" did ANYONE do? All I am hearing on here is pure speculation. That is pathetic.
Knowing the industry, I feel there needs to be more regulation and that is happening. However, the accusations I read on this board are baseless and border on slander.
Why would CLC pay $500,000 fine?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070721/news_1b21loans.html
See link above and recently as of September 13 there were 150+ people were let go. Congress passed a bill on September 7th to reduce rate private lenders would get and CLC would only have Private loan as a product by next month. What do you think is the company's future? Just a thought to share with you all.
To the person who posted on 6/27 here are the FACTS and how Cary Katz HURT STUDENTS and PARENTS with his "great business skills" and ethical business practices:
President Bush’s budget reports that in 2006 for every $100 lent by private lenders, the cost to the government of subsidies, defaults and other items was $13.81, while the same amount lent through the direct loan program cost the government $3.85.
This is the same short Cary Katz with the arrogant attitude who was levied a $500,000 fine for attempting to bribe school officials and doing unethical practices. Yea, short Katz is truly an amazing business man who came from nothing (snicker) and built a wonderful business. He hasn't been aware of what's been happening with the salespeople and the idiot sales managers there!!!!!! He's as much as a loser as Brooks and Kevin and just as clueless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And your point is.......
Cary Katz had nothing to do with any of that. He didn't set the interest rate, the government did. You blame HIM for starting and running a business that lends loans with interest rates set by the government? Take another hit of what ever you are smoking buddy. Oh..and as for the fine. Virtually every lender out there got hit with a fine. A witch hunt? Maybe. maybe not. BUT, take a look at the company with the smallest fine. Yup..College Loan Corporation.
You seem to be a very bitter person. As for the salespeople, you are probably one of the ones who got laid off because you weren't doing as well as both. Bitter. Just bitter.
WARNING CLC employees (the few that are left). College Loan Corp will be laying off 145 of you on Nov 12! Here is the link: http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=C99C136CD0455ABBCCFC474A4A4784CF&ref=1&src=rss
Old news about the lay offs. I was laid off in Sept with the 145 or so. Cary was kind enough to keep us on the books with full pay and benefits until the effective date of Nov 12. We have nothing but respect for Cary. No one knows where the business will go with all the recent changes, but I only wish all the best for Cary and the remaining employees. This company is a class act and I was a proud employee. Good Luck all.
11/15/2007 posting…the masses still fights for their ruthless king. Wake up! I lost my job at CLC, but not until I got the documents to get even.
12/28 poster: i've considered using my sales numbers and documents to show the court that i was let go when i had sales numbers much higher than 50% of the other sales peeps who got to stay due to their friendship with brooks or kevin. maybe we should get the others and do a class action suit? i sure miss seeing brooks waddling his duck walk on the floor with his pants falling down and dragging the floor...NOT.
CLC suspended the remaining part of its student-lending business yesterday because it lost its funding from Citigroup. 138 lenders have now exited from federal or private loan programs that were decimated by the national credit crisis and the huge cut in federal subsidies to lending companies for federal student loans.
I am proud to have worked for Cary Katz as a Loan Consultant for 4 years. I feel that he always went above and beyond to take care of his employees and create an ethical, friendly and productive work environment. That is his legacy at CLC.
One of the largest if not the largest donors in the 92064 (Poway, CA) zip code is a guy by the name of Cary Katz. He is the CEO of College Loan Corporation, the nations 7th largest student loan provider. He is in his mid 30s married with a whole bunch of kiddies (Mormon, I guess.)
I couldn't figure out how he got so rich so fast and why he was giving so much money to GOPpers. How could the college loan business be so lucrative? Unless, the students were getting screwed on the taxpayers dime.
Lack of federal regulation, federally guaranteed loans, super low interest rates, rediculous term agreements, predatory marketing schemes...
They had a good run for while and the Katz family made themselves a lot of cash. I cant help but laugh though at the fate of Daddy's "All American Football League", though.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=3279907
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