Poor investigative work leads to charges against loan originators

The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has taken to conducting its investigations remotely. After receiving complaints, the DFI sends e-mails to clients of loan originators and mortgage brokers inquiring into irregularities. This technique is marginal from several perspectives. First, the clients who are contacted are not given the ability to ask questions about the e-mails. They are requested to answer the questions as written without understanding the context or implications. What is particularly interesting is that the DFI then does not turn those e-mails over to the loan originators or mortgage brokers after they face charges based on those same e-mails. Thus, the respondent to the charges never knows the initial foundation of the complaint. If the respondent does not respond or settles with the DFI, the respondent might never know the basis of the charges.What is interesting is that the Department of Health (DOH) has done this in the past. In the case of the DOH, the e-mail inquiries were also meant to put businesses licensed through DOH out of business by scaring off their customers. I am sure that DFI did not intend something similar.