But after real estate prices fell and mortgage defaults surged in 2007, lawsuits against Bear started to pile up, accusing the bank of false and misleading statements in securitizing loans made to borrowers with no ability to repay. While it's difficult to tally Marano's total career earnings, some numbers are public: He was paid $5.6 million in his first full year at ResCap in 2009 while the company lost $7.3 billion. At Ditech he was hired with an annual compensation package of $2.25 million, not including stock options and potential bonuses, according to filings. Marano didn't comment directly on his past earnings but said that he contributes to causes including cancer research and homelessness. It took him only one month to land a top job at ResCap after Bear Stearns was sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a fire sale in March 2008. When he arrived, ResCap, once one of the largest subprime mortgage lenders, was already facing a rise in foreclosures that had left it on the brink of bankruptcy.