More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.
via NYTimes.com.
Jul 12
Jun 20
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is preparing a nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud, the latest in a series of efforts to curb lending practices that contributed to the housing meltdown, according to people familiar with the matter.
via FT.com
[Read this if you are contemplating taking a "shortcut" to get a loan - Tim]
Jun 20
“This is a national movement,” seconded Jim McClung, a former Bothell real-estate agent and owner of NW Note Elimination, a company he runs with Lane that counsels people in how to “eliminate mortgages” as well as take over empty, foreclosed houses.
Jun 18
The backlash is intensifying against banks and mortgage servicers that try to foreclose on homes without all their ducks in a row.
Because the notes were often sold and resold during the boom years, many financial companies lost track of the documents. Now, legal officials are accusing companies of forging the documents needed to reclaim the properties.
On Monday, the Florida Attorney General's Office said it was investigating the use of “bogus assignment” documents by Lender Processing Services Inc. and its former parent, Fidelity National Financial Inc.
Jun 15
According to the latest data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations these 10 cities were the leaders in mortgage fraud in the country.
Typically the mortgage fraud were misstatements on mortgage applications that lead to loans being improperly made.
May 04
Rampant fraud in the mortgage industry has increased so sharply that the FBI warned Friday of an “epidemic” of financial crimes which, if not curtailed, could become “the next S&L crisis.”
Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker said the booming mortgage market, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, has attracted unscrupulous professionals and criminal groups whose fraudulent activities could cause multibillion-dollar losses to financial institutions.
via CNN.com
Apr 15
They say a new federal rule to speed up short sales will increase banks' reliance on broker price opinions — cheaper, quicker and unregulated home valuations that some argue could lead to an emerging type of mortgage fraud called “flopping”
via MiamiHerald.com.
Apr 15
“Well, first of all, remember you have to distinguish between supervision and enforcement. A lot of the problems which we had in the independent issuers of subprime and other such mortgages, the basic problem there is that, if you don't have enforcement, and a lot of that stuff was just plain fraud, you're not coming to grips with the issue.”
via CFPA
