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ABC Special Report
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Mortgage Fraud News
New Mortgage Lending Rules Too Little and Far Too Late
Tuesday, 15 July 2008

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.

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Inman News: The bad business of 'Friends of Angelo'
Tuesday, 15 July 2008

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.

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White House, Fed will rescue Fannie, Freddie
Sunday, 13 July 2008

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.

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Outstanding Comment - How To Thank The NAHB?
Sunday, 13 July 2008

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...

 
You Tube Builder Mortgage Fraud Part II
Wednesday, 02 July 2008

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...

 
You Tube Builder Mortgage Fraud Part I
Wednesday, 02 July 2008

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... 

 
African Americans & Latino's Targeted in Mortgage Scam
Sunday, 22 June 2008

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.

 
FBI indicted more than 400 including housing developers
Sunday, 22 June 2008

Hundreds swept up in mortgage fraud arrests
More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March - including dozens over the last two days - in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that stem from the country's housing crisis... Law enforcement officials said their stepped-up focus on mortgage cases aims to combat problems that have grown out of the risky lending practices prevalent until the mortgage market collapse started last year. Officials have identified 10 "mortgage fraud hotspots" nationwide in California, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Georgia and Florida...Those named in the cases include housing developers, mortgage lenders and brokers, lawyers, real estate agents and appraisers, said Sharon Ormsby, section chief in charge of financial crimes for the FBI.

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The Patriot Post - Countrywide and Politicians on the Hot Seat
Saturday, 21 June 2008

News from the Swamp: Countrywide scandal
Both senators received their juicy home loans from Countrywide honcho Angelo Mozilo, as did Jim Johnson, a top Demo operative who was slated to handle Barack Obama’s vice-presidential search committee until his relationship with Mozilo became public. Other friends of the toxic Mozilo include Alphonso Jackson, the former HUD secretary who resigned in April, and Donna Shalala, former HHS secretary under Bill Clinton. Dmocrats had been hoping to plow a mortgage bailout through Congress before this whole mess gets exposed, but President George W. Bush has threatened a veto because of the overly generous terms for Countrywide and similar lenders.

Read more...
 
Washington Post - The housing bubble, in four chapters
Monday, 16 June 2008

How homeowners, speculators and Wall Street rode a wave of easy money
It was the peak. It was the embodiment of business success," Connelly said. "We underestimated the bubble, even though deep down, we knew it couldn't last forever." Indeed, Pinnacle's party would soon end, along with the nation's housing euphoria. The company has all but disappeared, along with dozens of other mortgage firms, tens of thousands of jobs on Wall Street and the dreams of about 1 million proud new homeowners who lost their houses...The aftershocks of the housing market's collapse still rumble through the economy, with unemployment rising, companies struggling to obtain financing and the stock market more than 10 percent below its peak last fall... Seen in the best possible light, the housing bubble that began inflating in the mid-1990s was "a great national experiment," as one prominent economist put it -- a way to harness the inventiveness of the capitalist system to give low-income families, minorities and immigrants a chance to own their homes. But it also is a classic story of boom, excess and bust, of homeowners, speculators and Wall Street dealmakers happy to ride the wave of easy money even though many knew a crash was inevitable.

Read more...
 
11 face justice today in mortgage fraud
Sunday, 08 June 2008

Arests expected soon in two other schemes based here
Eleven members of that 16-person ring -- which includes three real estate agents, an attorney, a mortgage broker and a former Wells Fargo bank officer -- are set to be sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Austin after being found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering and falsifying information on loan documents as part of this scam that hit Austin and that San Antonio neighborhood...Texas is among the top 10 states for mortgage abuses, and San Antonio is involved in three such scams so far this year, the Austin case and two San Antonio-based rings under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The San Antonio rings used more than 50 people to inflate prices in Stone Oak, Spring Branch and Dallas. FBI special agents investigating the cases have said that arrests would happen soon this summer.

Read more...
 
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