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Smart Rate Mortgage, LLC<\/strong>\u00a0is no longer licensed as a residential mortgage company in Illinois. Meanwhile,\u00a0Michael Strauss<\/a>, its only loan officer, now has an inactive status on his license, according to the\u00a0Illinois<\/a>\u00a0Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition, the\u00a0Nationwide Multistate Licensing System\u00a0<\/strong>(NMLS) shows that Jacksonville, Florida-based Smart Rate is no longer authorized to conduct business as of Oct. 3, indicating a voluntary surrender. Strauss\u2019s restriction to do business started Oct. 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smart Rate marked Strauss\u2019s return to the mortgage market after\u00a0abruptly shuttering<\/a>\u00a0Sprout Mortgage in July 2022. Former employees\u00a0accused<\/a>\u00a0Strauss of not paying salaries and suspending their\u00a0health insurance<\/a>\u00a0coverage retroactively despite collecting contributions from paychecks.\u00a0<\/p>\n HousingWire contacted Strauss via social media and Smart Rate through a corporate email, but they did not respond. <\/p>\n Smart Rate received a license in Illinois on Dec. 20, 2022. Strauss\u2019 MLO license in the state was issued on Dec. 28, 2022. HousingWire reported in January 2023 that Strauss was ready to start\u00a0a new mortgage company<\/a>\u00a0after registering Smart Rate in Florida.<\/p>\n However, the Illinois regulator issued orders on Feb. 1, 2023, to suspend the licenses<\/a>, alleging Strauss and Smart Rate did not provide all the requested information.<\/p>\n Strauss and Smart Rate filed petitions for administrative hearings to overturn the Department\u2019s suspension order. While the decision was under appeal, Strauss was brokering loans. <\/p>\n Mortgage tech platform Modex shows that Strauss, the only mortgage loan officer at Smart Rate, originated $5.56 million in the last nine months across 29 units, mainly conventional loans (63% of the total) and refinances (53% of the total). He had an MLO license in Illinois only, according to the NMLS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200b\u200b\u201cI broker business-purpose loans completely in a manner which is fully compliant with all laws and regulations and anything said to the contrary is incorrect,\u201d Strauss told Inside Mortgage Finance<\/strong> (IMF) in early September. <\/p>\n Smart Rate is registered in Florida to Michael\u2019s wife, Beth Strauss, according to the Florida Limited Liability Company. The address listed is 610 Park Avenue, New York, a residential property for sale for $19.9 million<\/a>, down from $26.5 million in February, according to Zillow<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Recently, ex-employees\u00a0moved to protect<\/a>\u00a0a $3.5 million settlement with Sprout Mortgage for unpaid wages after a request from the shuttered lender to halt the agreement due to an involuntary bankruptcy petition was filed by three creditors.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Strauss founded Sprout six years after paying $2.45 million to settle a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission<\/strong> <\/a>(SEC) over accounting fraud. The SEC said the executive caused losses to investors after engaging in a pattern of false and misleading claims at American Home Mortgage Investment Corp.<\/strong><\/p>\n