Americans have often had an ambivalent view of whistleblowers. When we feel that the whistleblowing serves some righteous cause, the whistleblower's actions are worthy of a medal; but when the whistleblower's cause is considered to mask self-aggrandizement, then we often contend that some jail time might be a more suitable reward, whatever the cause. Still, one person's justification for such actions may be castigated by another person as an act of perfidy.

In a rather morally twisted way, recent law has combined the act of whistleblowing with the remuneration of bounty hunting, the latter being yet another concerning happenstance of American ambivalence.

Let's call this new ethical imperative the "Dope for Dough" compact.

In this article:

• A Snitch In Time Saves Crime
• If You See Something, Say Something
• Welcome to the Office of the Whistleblower
• Bounty Hunter
• Tips, Complaints and Referrals
• Anonymity More-or-Less
• Preventing Retaliation More-or-Less
• First Do No Harm

A Snitch In Time Saves Crime

Being a snitch is not exactly the kind of job position somebody must apply for, even in these days of high unemployment. It's not a career opportunity. A snitch doesn't want to be a snitch, hates snitching, and would rather not have to snitch at all. Being a snitch does not bestow a badge of honor! There are no annual conferences for snitchers. A snitch is not born a snitch; something has to happen to make a snitch snitch.

Often, the stakes for snitching are very high. Being a snitch means subjecting oneself to potential ostracism, being fired, not being hired, jail time, and even community time (yes, courts have held that "community service" may be a proxy for prison time). Snitchers know that whenever people pass them by, there will be fingers pointed at them and breathless whispers behind their backs about the supposed damage done by, or the great good achieved through, their snitching. Snitching has a wake all its own and the snitcher can never get out of it, whatsoever the tattletale tattled.

The list of snitch martyrdom is long and, depending on the results and society's comfort zone, contains patriots and traitors, saints and the damned, reformists and reactionaries, the sempiternal loyalists and the double-crossing turncoat. Even if the weaseling betrayer squeals the unvarnished truth, the very act of making manifest the heretofore hidden may bring with it many dangers impinging on the tipster's physical, let alone social, survival.

LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP is the first and only full service, mortgage risk management firm in the country that specializes exclusively in residential mortgage compliance. The firm provides risk management outsourcing to the mortgage industry, offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.

* Jonathan Foxx is the President and Managing Director of Lenders Compliance Group