By: Marsha Thompson
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The FBI says there is an epidemic of elaborate mortgage fraud schemes occuring across the country, even in Mississippi. A federal crackdown has resulted in numerous indictments and guilty pleas. Sources tell us some in the real estate industry alleged targeted African-American buyers, and made easy bucks in the red hot market.
WLBT News talked with a Madison couple who fell for a "too good to be true" sales pitch. Madison, good schools, and tight-knit neighborhoods. "Oh I fell in love with it so did my wife." This father of five and his wife who prefers not to be identified, purchased their dream home, in upscale Wright's Mill Subdivision 2 years ago. The homeowner told us, "We couldn't believe we were able to buy a home. We had been having trouble buying one." Like many others with a low credit rating..the 1st time homebuyer turned to Premier Mortgage for a loan.
According to the Madison county resident, "They had an ad in the newspaper, a simple little ad like special programs, bad credit okay now or low down payment. Soon they were signing the dotted line with Premier Mortgage. It was a closing they described as "way to easy" considering their financial status. "Easy process, they talk really good real fast, we can do this and do that, no real problem." They believed they were paying 330-thousand dollars for the home. That was the list price. But at closing, the price had jumped tens of thousands.
We were told by the husband, "What actually happened they had it appraised for way more 220- thousand dollars. It was overvalued that much." The price tag at closing: A whopping $548,500.00. The family told us the seller/agent didn't talk about the price of the home upfront.
Experts say scams occur when appraisers illegally inflate home values. This homeowner believes closing papers were falsified indicating a phony 130-thousand dollar down payment. The wife says that did not happen. "No, we never put that much down. Just 1-thousand dollars?" The more expensive sales price produced a huge profit for the seller and a huge house payment. After the mortgage company closed the loan, settlement papers show nearly 221-thousand dollars going to the seller/agent Patrick V. McGee. The homeowner says he now has a mortgage note of about 3-thousand a month. And that's not including taxes and insurance.
The family says they were lead to believe their mortgage would be far less. Patrick MaGee and 6 co-conspirators who allegedly orchestrated a number of mortgage fraud scams in Madison county, pled guilty to Federal charges. As for Premier Mortgage, our investigation finds the sign still out in Ridgeland. So we ventured in. Here's how the encounter went: " Is this Premier Mortgage?" "No it's not. "What is it? "New Place Lending." " They (Premier Mortgage) had a lot of questionable lending practices going on, mortgage fraud." "I don't know anything about that." "Can I get your name?" "No you can't, can I get you to leave?" "Certainly." The unidentified man denies any association with Premier Mortgage.
As for the family, their dream home is in foreclosure. The father says, "We'll have to try to find something else it's going to be hard because now the foreclosure has damaged my credit." Investigators say untold number of families may have also fallen victim to mortgage scams in the Metro area. Authorities attribute the outbreak to an underground network of insiders turning dirty deals. Jackson attorney Dale Danks has filed a lawsuit against Patrick MaGee, Premier Mortgage, and others in hopes of saving the families' home.
Investigators tell WLBT News they have pinpointed 64 known cases of mortgage fraud by Premier Mortgage in the metro area......totaling 12 -million in loans. We will continue to cover this story as it unfolds.
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?s=5563857
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