Ohio task force cracks mortgage fraud case involving 453 homes
Uri Gofman of Beachwood, Ohio is alleged to have orchestrated one of the nation's largest mortgage fraud cases by enlisting family, friends and others to invest in his real estate company, Real Asset Fund, with promises of profit. Gofman's enterprise began with seed money from an investor who transferred funds from a bank account in Latvia. The scheme involved using straw buyers to purchase homes, falsely claiming home improvements were performed on houses in order to refinance them, and then selling houses to unqualified buyers with the assistance of real estate agents, mortgage brokers and title companies.

Texas claim forms sent for Countrywide restitution
Attorney General Greg Abbott's office on Monday announced the forms were mailed late last week over the February agreement. The deal applies to Countrywide customers who secured loans between 2004 and 2007, who lost their homes to foreclosure or whose payments were 120 days behind as of Oct. 6, 2008. Only Countrywide customers who receive letters are eligible to seek restitution. The final dollar amount will depend upon the number of people who respond. The AG's office investigated Countrywide in 2008 for encouraging homeowners to accept loans they could not afford, failing to fully disclose risky terms and writing loans for unqualified borrowers

Countrywide to dispense $7.46M to Texans
Texans eligible for a portion of the payout will soon be receiving a form in the mail to fill out to request restitution, according to the Attorney General's office. The office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the program to reimburse Texas homeowners was first announced in February. Only customers who took out Countrywide loans between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2007 are eligible.

NY Times GRETCHEN MORGENSON: Looking for the Lenders’ Little Helpers
It is hard not to be dismayed by the fact that two years into our economic crisis so few perpetrators of financial misdeeds have been held accountable for their actions. And what of the giant institutions that helped finance these monumentally toxic loans, or arranged the securitizations that bundled the loans and sold them to investors? So far, they have argued, fairly successfully, that they operated independently of the original lenders. Therefore, they are not responsible for any questionable loans that were made.

Indicted Countrywide Chief Built Second Home in Texas
In 2004 Texas' top leaders awarded $20 million in taxpayer funds to induce Countrywide to expand its Texas workforce. After the troubled company laid off one-fifth of its workforce, Governor Perry now refuses to release the compliance reports that Countrywide files to verify if it is has met the jobs requirements of its state grant.  Read more: Lobby Watch at TPJ.

Citing e-mail messages in which Mr. Mozilo referred to Countrywide loan products as “toxic” and  “poison,” S.E.C. officials said that he had misled investors about growing risks in the company’s lending practices from 2005 through 2007. During this time he also generated $140 million in profits by selling stock in the company, the S.E.C. said.  “This is the tale of two companies,” said Robert Khuzami, enforcement director at the S.E.C. “Countrywide portrayed itself as underwriting mainly prime-quality mortgages, using high underwriting standards. But concealed from shareholders was the true Countrywide, an increasingly reckless lender assuming greater and greater risk.” At a news conference announcing its filing of the suit, the most prominent against an executive involved in the mortgage crisis, Mr. Khuzami said the S.E.C. had made it a priority “to pursue cases at the root of the financial crisis.” As the nation’s largest mortgage lender, Countrywide helped fuel the housing boom by offering loans to high-risk borrowers. See Related Feature: Rise and Fall of Predatory Lending and Housing

Minyanville: Subprime Lending is Back with a Vengeance
This is truly a shell game of the most amazing magnitude and we are simply continuing the practices that got us here. Because Americans are not savers and there are not enough marginal buyers we literally are turning renters into homeowners and they need to bring nothing to the table ... again. So they will have no problem walking away... again. This is the latest outrage via an excellent piece at Minyanville... that $8000 credit we were lauding as an incentive? Well it is no longer being used as it was intended to be... i.e. borrower comes to government with their 3% down and then gets the $8000 the following year.

When Builders Build Bad Loans
The bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, says the problem is that many consumers who bought homes from corporate builders ended up caught in a closed loop: forced by hard-sell tactics and deception to use the builders’ in-house mortgage and title companies. The industry promotes the practice as a one-stop-shopping convenience that saves time and money. Too many homeowners found it did neither. They were pressured into buying overpriced homes with interest-only loans that they didn’t understand and couldn’t handle. When the bubble burst in Southern California, that was it for their dreams and homes.

DATELINE: INSIDE THE FINANCIAL FIASCO SERIES BEGINS
For the first hour of a three-part investigative series, "Inside the Financial Fiasco: Mortgage Madness," NBC's Chris Hansen reports on how risky home loans helped cause a chain reaction that led to failures on Wall Street and the near collapse of the American economy. The report also includes exclusive accounts from insiders and whistleblowers speaking out for the first time.Check TheHansenFiles.com afterwards for web-exclusive material.  See NBC main page...

State Law- Predatory Lending & Mortgage Fraud
State AG's Make Countrywide Pay - When will  Board Members, the masterminds be held accountable. Countrywide sold subprime loans, including adjustable rate mortgages ("ARMs") with teaser rates that were unaffordable and unconscionable to West Virginia consumers. These loans exposed consumers to foreclosure and loss of their homes. Countrywide also used unfair and deceptive acts or practices to sell loans and service loans. Read more...