Andy Betz gave up his dream job as a loan lender earlier this year when the mortgage crisis dried up his client pool and depleted his income. Just before he did, money had gotten so tight that his family sold their Ellicott City, Maryland, home.

Even though he had eight years of experience in the industry, he said he was rejected from job after job. He suspects he was lumped in with predatory lenders who had sold scores of subprime mortgages to homeowners.

"The people in the mortgage industry were like pariahs," he said. "I felt like I was wearing a scarlet letter."

Betz loved working as a lender, but when he meets new people he shies away from telling them what he used to do. He doesn't like the negative reaction he usually gets.

He says he never sold a subprime mortgage and rarely sold a few adjustable rate mortgages. "There's not a lot of appreciation for the people that did do it right," he said. "I was a solution for a lot of people and I take pride in that."

After being unemployed for four months, Betz found employment a month and a half ago. He works in the restaurant and hotel supply industry, making less than half of his previous salary.

Selling garbage bags and paper plates isn't Betz's favorite job, but at least it helps to pay the bills. "You do what you got to do to survive," he said.

Betz isn't the only one hit hard by the economy these days. Are you worried about losing your job? Let us know.

Posted by zdan // 1 month ago
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Posted in: economy, jobs