JPMorgan memo shows dirty tricks of mortgage trade

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An internal JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) memo entitled "Zippy Cheats & Tricks" offers a peek into just the sort of dubious lending tactics that underpinned the U.S. housing market's deepening downward spiral.

Originally obtained by reporters at The Oregonian newspaper, the memo outlines step-by-step instructions on how to beef up mortgage applicants' stated incomes in order to help them qualify for home loans.

They read as follows:

"1. Make sure you input all income in base income. DO NOT break it down by overtime, commissions or bonus.

2. If your borrower is getting a gift, add it to a bank account along with the rest of the assets. Be sure to remove any mention of gift funds.

3. If you do not get (the desired results), try resubmitting with slightly higher income. Inch it up $500 to see if you can get the findings you want. Do the same for assets."

JPMorgan argues these were the wayward actions of a rogue employee who has since been fired, and by no means represent company policy.

"Clearly it's nothing that we condone," said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase. "As soon as we learned about it, we stopped it."