Dave Mariani was in the mortgage business for nearly 20 years, heading up operations for one large lender after another, when in 2000, he decided to call it quits. At the time, he was working for North American Mortgage Company, which was gobbled up by Washington Mutual in 2001. “[North American’s] was the best [business] model I’d ever worked for,” Mariani said. However, just prior to the takeover, management changed hands and operated in