Merit's history

1992 to 1995

Scott Greenlaw plays cornerback for the Washington Huskies, going to the 1993 Rose Bowl.

May 2001

Greenlaw opens mortgage company Merit Financial with 16 employees.

November 2002

State agencies begin receiving complaints about Merit's business practices.

June 2003

Oregon fines Merit $3,000 for violating its Do Not Call Registry.

December 2003

Merit pays $13.5 million for a 59,000-square-foot headquarters building in Kirkland; an additional $2.7 million is spent on furniture and interior construction.

March 2004

Merit has 217 employees and tops more than $1 billion in loan production. The firm is licensed to do business in more than two dozen states. Its practices generate consumer complaints from Florida to Hawaii.

June 2004

Merit named one of state's best firms to work for by Washington CEO magazine.

September 2004

Puget Sound Business Journal names Greenlaw to its 40 Under 40 list of outstanding young business leaders.

December 2004

Greenlaw and his first wife, Lisa, divorce; he agrees to a $1 million settlement, then challenges it vigorously in court.

March 2005

Merit establishes a foundation to benefit children but fails to register it as a charity with the state. Its co-chairwoman, Debra Sumstad, becomes Greenlaw's second wife. The foundation holds events, including a $200-a- ticket gala at the Westin Hotel.

April 2005

Merit, with 400 employees, is named a finalist for "Eastside Business of the Year" by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.

December 2005

Merit continues to recruit loan officers, advertising online that they can "make all the money you want."

January 2006

Update in divorce agreement with Lisa obligates Scott to turn over Merit decision-making to an executive committee and caps his gross income at $30,000 a month. He remains in control, committee members say.

March 2006

Washington State Gambling Commission shuts down card tournament at Merit headquarters.

May 6, 2006

Merit unexpectedly lays off 300-plus employees and announces its likely closure.

May 11, 2006

Greenlaw sends terminated employees a personal letter pledging not to take salary or other compensation "until all back wages are paid in full."

May 2006

The state Department of Revenue files two tax warrants against Merit for failure to pay $351,294 in business and occupation tax.

May 24, 2006

Greenlaw is ordered to pay ex-wife Lisa's legal fees of $116,933.

May 31, 2006 — Merit closes and forfeits its headquarters to avoid foreclosure. The state Department of Financial Institutions says it won't investigate Merit's closure because it received no consumer complaints about it.

May through August 2006

Four firms file lawsuits against Merit and/or Greenlaw to collect debts totaling $431,000.

June 13, 2006

Greenlaw tells ex-employees the state has appropriated Merit's remaining funds to pay B&O taxes. Merit still owes the state $74,553.

June 2006

State and federal agencies begin investigating Merit for labor-practice violations.

June 2006

Greenlaw and several former Merit employees start a new company, Tri Star Financial Services, in Bellevue. He soon leaves it, telling co-workers he'll do mortgage lending out of his home.

June 2006

Greenlaw's new $4 million Lake Washington home goes on the market.

November 2006

Former Merit loan officer Kerrie Saulness still had not received back wages. She says others haven't either.

Information in this article, originally published December 3, 2006, was corrected December 17, 2006. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Merit Financial was named a 2005 finalist for Eastside Business of the Year by a committee assembled by the Puget Sound Business Journal. It was selected by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, not by the Puget Sound Business Journal.