| The purpose of this study was to explore the ethical principles that corporate leaders or entrepreneurs within the residential mortgage lending field believe are most important to their profession. This dissertation begins with a brief discussion of the recent crisis in the mortgage lending business, including bankruptcy of many lending institutions, and then discusses business ethics. The research questions for this study are as follows: (a) What do the leaders within the residential mortgage business perceive to be the five most important ethical principles in mortgage lending? (b) Why are these five ethical principles important to them? (c) How do these ethical principles influence the leaders' decision-making processes in lending decisions? (d) How have these principles---as part of the leaders' business practices---led to positive or negative results? A convenience sample yielded 26 interviews. Respondents had a minimum of 10 years of lending experience and included independent mortgage brokers, banking loan officers who engage in residential lending, and independent mortgage lenders. The top five most-mentioned ethical characteristics were honesty, integrity, fairness, responsibility/reliability, and competency (including knowledge and accuracy). |
