FBI Probes Unusual Incentives for Home Buyers
When home sales began to slow at the start of the downturn, home builders offered buyers incentives -- instead of reducing prices -- to stimulate demand. The incentives included cars, tuition and credit-card payments, and even cash. Now, federal investigators are questioning whether some of those incentives misled lenders and caused them to write mortgages that were artificially inflated, contributing to today's home-price crash...the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations that home builders, brokers and appraisers defrauded lenders by not disclosing unusually large incentives to buyers, which could have added as much as $100,000 to the price of a home.

Housing bill no panacea
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed by President Bush July 30, contains a hodge-podge of new programs, protections and perks for homeowners, home buyers and housing-related companies. But considerable doubt remains as to whether the law will do much to change the current dynamics of the nation's housing markets, which are still mired in misfired mortgages and depressed home sales. The bill may turn out to be not so much too little, too late, but rather misdirected, riddled with loopholes and subject to unintended consequences.

Mortgage Industry Warchdog or Lapdog - By Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle's editorial cartoonist

Fed draws up new rules for mortgage lenders
The Federal Reserve Board Monday unveiled rule changes intended to curb deceptive mortgage lending practices, most of which will take effect in October 2009 and apply to all lenders whether they are supervised at the state or federal level...The most stringent new rules put forward by the Fed apply only to high-interest-rate loans. They include restrictions on prepayment penalties and requirements that lenders set up escrow accounts to collect payments for property taxes and homeowners' insurance on first-lien loans. The escrow requirement won't be phased in until 2010 to allow lenders time to adapt.

Perspective: Industry should condemn sweetheart home loans for politicians
Which mortgage company chieftain took home $140 million in compensation last year while the company he founded lost $704 million? If you said Angelo R. Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., take a bow. And add a couple of gold stars if you knew Mozilo's pay was comprised of more than $120 million from exercised stock options and more than $22 million in other compensation, according to a Reuters' report based on the mortgage company's year-end filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission...It's tempting to dismiss Mozilo's special deals as just another corporate perk, just another example of too much money in politics or just another instance of greed gone wild in real estate transactions.

The implicit government guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is now explicit
In a dramatic statement released Sunday, the White House and Federal Reserve moved to give the mortgage giants the capital they need to survive the depression in the housing market and turmoil in financial markets that had left them dangling over a cliff. Of most immediate importance, the Fed's board of governors voted to open up its emergency discount window to Fannie and Freddie. In addition, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that he will seek Congressional authorization to by stock in the two companies and increase the government's credit line. At the moment, each company may borrow only $2.25 billion.

I can't find anyplace else to thank the fine work of the NAHB (as Bush did some years ago) for saving the American economy, and making the American dream come true for millions of Americans. Their devotion to blocking consumer protection legislation, and meaningful accountability of their industry has panned out to be a real blessing in home affordability for all. As foreclosure rates have reached one quarter of a million families per month, thank you NAHB for that show of deep concern for American's ability to own the American dream. As serious new home construction defects went into the millions of homes during the big boom, thanks again NAHB for making most all those mistakes profitable for big name builders, though it was often devastating for the families who bought them.  And thanks for the spin on the whole situation, so most people may never know how much you've really done for to Americans. By Ron Jackson. Read more and comment...

Builder Mortgage Fraud "The Making of Modren Day Ghost Towns"Top ten builders participated in mortgage fraud to sell homes.  Inflating appraisals and paying off packages: new car, paid credit cards, furnishings, and swimming pool. A Realtors got big bonuses and trip to Hawaii . Addendums were destroyed for hidden incentives.
See You Tube...

Builder Mortage Companies Creative Mortgage Fraud Part 1
Las Vegas Real Estate - Buildr Incentives...Fluf or Fraud: New homebuilders participated in massive mortgage fraud to sell new homes.  Insider Dana Ellis talks about builder fraud.  Builder paid off debt, credit cards and new cars for the buyer. See Part I You Tube Video more...  See more related videos... 

The arrests took place over the past three months in about a dozen cities.
Over the past couple of months, federal agents have nailed hundreds of real estate wheeler-dealers, charging them with fraud in a crisis that has crippled the mortgage industry and left thousands of homeowners, particularly African Americans, cribless. Even as the FBI was announcing the arrests of some 400 alleged financial criminals – including housing developers, mortgage lenders and brokers, lawyers, real estate agents and appraisers – Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan association, was firing 1,200 people across the country. Many of WaMu’s layoffs will be in its home loan business, Forbes.com reports, as the Seattle-based bank dissolves its riskier loans, such as sub-prime mortgages. The arrests, 60 of which occurred on Wednesday alone in a dozen or so cities, including Chicago, Houston and Miami , were part of a crackdown against fraud that has cost homeowners about $1 billion. “Mortgage fraud poses a significant threat to our economy, to the stability of our nation’s housing markets and to the peace of mind of millions of American homeowners,” Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said at a news conference. The sting, known as “Operation Malicious Mortgage” has netted 406 people since it kicked off on March 1, he said. While there is a rainbow of Americans crushed under the weight of predatory lenders and their unscrupulous cohorts, nobody has felt the pressure more than African Americans. Studies have shown that Blacks are more likely to be targeted for high-risk loans than less credit-worthy Whites. These sub-prime mortgages, with interest payments that often balloon after reeling in borrowers with relatively low introductory rates, have triggered a cascade of foreclosures, particularly in Black and Latino communities.