Adam Pullen

Whether he’s interviewing a loan applicant or a criminal suspect, mortgage broker and reserve police officer Adam Pullen says he has learned how to determine if someone is telling the truth by watching their eyes and body language. “When I ask if they have had a bankruptcy, and they lie — I know it,” the Birmingham, Ala. native told MortgageDaily.com. Pullen’s law enforcement and military training, he says, has taught him “a lot about human nature,” which has spilled over into a successful mortgage and investment career. Pullen launched Accept Mortgage Plus in January of 2004 — which now, with six employees, has production levels of $5-6 million a month.

Following four years of Navy training in the weapons and security division and as a search and rescue swimmer, Pullen earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of Alabama and went to work for the Birmingham Police Department. For a year and a half, he worked as a “beat cop” on the early morning shift, 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. while also renovating houses during the day.After deciding that his then lifestyle was not conducive to a marriage and two children, Pullen went to work for The Bank of Birmingham as a loan originator where he gained his knowledge of the mortgage industry which led to the subsequent opening of his own mortgage company.

Although he still works part-time as a reserve officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, he spends most of his time selling mortgages, and managing his two other companies Pullen Properties which purchases and renovates homes; and Pullen Investments, an investment firm that specializes in high risk loans.

Pullen says Pullen Investments currently loans about $1 million a year and forecasts an increase to $5 million within the next two years.

Accept Plus Mortgage is also expanding by adding a branch office and five more employees in Trussell. Wendy Pullen, his wife, manages the main office in Birmingham. “She keeps us up and running,” Pullen said. “Typically, I am out of the office trying to sell and do what I do.”

Pullen says the company utilizes about seven different wholesalers and offers a wide range of programs including HELOCs, however he said jumbo loan purchases seem to be the most popular loans in his mortgage office these days.