A memo that circulated at JPMorgan Chase provided a menu of options for fooling the banking giant's computer system into approving risky mortgages, according to a story in The Oregonian.

Here are some details from the story:

The memo was called "Zippy Cheats & Tricks," with Zippy being Chase's in-house automated loan underwriting system. It recommends three "handy steps" to loan approval.

1. Lump all of an applicant's compensation as the applicant's base income, rather than breaking out commissions, bonuses and tips.

2. Do not disclose use of gifts for down payments.

3. If all else fails, simply inflate the applicant's income.

"Inch it up $500 to see if you can get the findings you want," the memo says. "Do the same for assets."

The memo deals specifically with so-called stated-income loans, which require little or no documentation of income. Chase no longer makes any stated-income loans.

A Chase spokesman confirmed the memo was e-mailed from within the bank but said it did not reflect corporate policy.

Chase fired Portland account representative who sent the e-mail days after discovering she had sent it.

Chase wrote down $1.3 billion in nonperforming mortgages at the end of 2007.