HomeFed CEO’s Use of Perk Opens Eyes : Thrifts: Thomas Wageman took advantage of a relocation benefit to buy another home in Dallas. Regulators seem satisfied, however.

HomeFed Bank last year agreed to buy the Dallas house of Thomas Wageman as an incentive for him to become chief executive of the troubled San Diego-based thrift. Wageman took the job in July, sold the house to HomeFed and bought a new home--in Dallas.

Records and interviews indicate that the savings and loan may have lost more than $20,000 on the sale. Wageman, who rents a home in La Jolla, and HomeFed acknowledged the transaction but would not supply figures and details.

While Wageman’s action is permitted under his compensation package--which was reviewed by federal thrift regulators--it raises questions about his long-term commitment to HomeFed and his use of relocation benefits extended to him.

“It says Wageman’s a short-termer at HomeFed, which I always suspected,” said Bert Ely, an Alexandria, Va.-based S&L; consultant. “When he was brought in there, it didn’t speak well for HomeFed’s long-term prospects. He’s a caretaker, basically. . . . I have to question the propriety of someone receiving relocation assistance when in fact he or she does not relocate.”

Wageman, a specialist in running troubled thrifts, was hired to turn around HomeFed, one of the nation’s largest S&Ls.; He replaced former HomeFed Chief Executive Robert Adelizzi, who was ousted by thrift regulators in May, 1991, after HomeFed’s problem loans mounted.

At the time Wageman was hired, HomeFed was struggling, failing to meet two out of three federal requirements for capital--the financial cushion thrifts maintain to protect against losses. Most of its losses--$772 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30, the latest figures available--stem from bad real estate loans.

Wageman is given high marks in the industry for his ability to manage troubled institutions. He has aggressively written down HomeFed’s shaky credits and cut costs, but most analysts doubt that the thrift can be saved from a government takeover. HomeFed has been seeking capital from private sources for months.

The agreement to purchase Wageman’s home--which included standard language assuring him that he would not lose money on the sale--was part of a compensation package that HomeFed’s directors offered him. The package was reviewed by federal regulators, who began keeping an especially close watch on the thrift after a $248-million loss in late 1990.

According to the contract, HomeFed would buy Wageman’s home at a price “reflecting Wageman’s basis” in the home, which protected him against taking a loss on the sale. The contract also specified an annual salary of $650,000 to take the top job at HomeFed, with a $75,000 raise guaranteed in January.

Wageman actually received a $100,000 raise in January, bringing his annual compensation to $750,000. He also is entitled to unspecified stock options tied to his performance.

In interviews, Wageman, who left Sunbelt Savings in Dallas to join HomeFed, confirmed the sale of his Dallas house and subsequent purchase of another Dallas home, saying his wife prefers the Texas metropolis. He rents a home in La Jolla and periodically visits Dallas, where his wife and three children live.

Neither Wageman nor HomeFed Chairman Kim Fletcher would discuss specifics of the two transactions or how much loss, if any, HomeFed absorbed in the deal. According to Texas records and interviews with real estate sources, HomeFed bought Wageman’s home on Warm Mist Lane for $636,000 and sold it several months later for $615,000.

Eric Shand, interim head of the Office of Thrift Supervision’s San Francisco office, said regulators reviewed Wageman’s contract because HomeFed is a problem institution. Shand said the home purchase should be viewed as part of Wageman’s overall compensation. He said the agency is unconcerned where he makes his permanent home and has no doubt about Wageman’s commitment.

“Obviously, we are concerned with any institution--particularly a problem institution--that they have a full-time CEO,” Shand said. “As far as we are aware, they do have a full-time CEO. Tom Wageman is devoting his energy to the problems at HomeFed.”

Thrift industry sources say it’s not unusual for executives hired to run ailing S&Ls; to delay moving permanently to the new city if the thrift’s survival is in doubt. Home purchase clauses are a standard carrot that companies offer to free executives from worries about selling their homes and to protect them against taking a big loss in a soft real estate market. But buying a home in the same city is unusual, raising the question of whether it violated the spirit of the relocation benefit.

“Relocation is where you move yourself from a long distance away to where your new job is. I suppose if the new house is west of the old house, he’s heading in the right direction,” said executive compensation analyst Graef S. Crystal, an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley. He said the arrangement is simply roundabout compensation.