Hundreds of people across the country have been arrested by law enforcement officials targeting crooked mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and other industry officials, the head of the FBI and a top Justice Department official said Thursday. FBI Director Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip announced the arrests the same day two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, surrendered to the FBI.

via money.cnn.com

Federal agents arrested eight North Texas men Wednesday in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud operation involving at least 11 homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In a 51-count indictment, the eight men and three other defendants stand accused of profiting by obtaining mortgages based on inflated sales prices. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants recruited straw buyers to purchase the homes, then let the loans go into foreclosure after making just a few payments.

via dallasnews.com

Eight people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with what federal prosecutors in Maryland describe as a 'massive mortgage fraud scheme' by a Prince George's County company that promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes, the state U.S. attorney's office announced today.

via topix.net

Eleven people have been indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme that netted at least $1.7 million in profits, federal authorities said Friday. The suspects include the manager of a real estate firm, mortgage brokers and two attorneys, Eric Levine, 55, of Brookline, whose license to practice law had been suspended by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2003 and 2004, and J. Daniel Lindley, 59, a practicing attorney from Boston. They face various charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

via thebostonchannel.com

Mortgage fraud could be under the spotlight once the City of London police service deploys 50 new investigators in April. In an interview with the Financial Times, Detective Superintendent Oliver Shaw of the City police said the new investigators would boost the City’s anti-fraud unit by a third and may initially be used to investigate mortgage fraud. The new recruits will be a mix of officers and civilian investigators, brought in to co-ordinate local investigations across the country and work with organisations such as the Financial Services Authority.

via yourmortgage.co.uk

Federal prosecutors on Monday announced indictments in a mortgage scheme that siphoned off nearly $13 million in home equity and victimized more than 100 homeowners who had been seeking to avoid foreclosure. Dozens of people in California and elsewhere lost their homes in the scam, which prosecutors say was led by Charles Head of La Habra. He and 18 others face allegations that they preyed on homeowners who were struggling to make payments on adjustable-rate and other mortgages. Under the scam, homeowners facing foreclosure were promised lower house payments and even cash upfront to help pay bills if they agreed to add another name to their home's title.

via money.cnn.com

California authorities said Tuesday they filed a lawsuit and made seven arrests in a mortgage fraud case involving seven companies and thousands of homebuyers in Southern California. The seven suspects were arrested on charges including conspiracy, grand theft, forgery and elder abuse, San Bernardino District Attorney Michael Ramos said. Attorney General Jerry Brown said his office was seeking penalties and restitution of more than $20 million in the bait-and-switch scam led by 25-year-old real estate agent Eric Pony.

via vvdailypress.com

North Carolina was charged in a federal bill of information filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina with one count alleging conspiracy to commit violations of federal law including making a false statement and application in relation to a loan,

via mortgagefraudblog.com

How many of you remember FSI: Fraud Scheme Investigation, the award winning Interthinx® training film????

via mortgagefraudblog.com

Lawsuit claims the lender told an appraiser to offer a rosier housing outlook so risky mortgages could get approved.Read the rest of this entry »

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The number of reported mortgage fraud cases has climbed so quickly that U.S. federal investigators and prosecutors say they can't keep pace.Since 2005, reports of suspected mortgage fraud doubled.Read the rest of this entry »

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Hundreds of thousands of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest bank customers are being given a new security device to protect their online bank accounts.
People who set up payments from their accounts, such as direct debits, are being sent small debit card readers that look like calculators.

These generate a new code each time they are used, which must then be typed in to the banking group's website.

The new system is similar to Barclays' Pinsentry introduced earlier this year. Read the rest of this entry »

via news.bbc.co.uk

So, your bank had just turned you down for a mortgage application. The same thing also happened, when you went to other banks in your area. How can those banking people be so blind? Don't they see that you are a hard working person? That you intend to repay them every penny?

That blemish on your credit report was a mistake. A greedy landlord reported you as a no-pay to the credit bureau, when all you were trying to do was to collect the money for repairs, which the owner himself should have done in a first place. You should probably have taken him to a court, but who has time or money for lawyers?
Read the rest of this entry »

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The average home in the United States has a value of $206,000, a record amount. Real estate prices have been rising throughout the country during the last five years, and homeowners have seen the value of their property skyrocket. In California alone, the equity in private homes has increased by more than one trillion dollars in the last five years alone. Many homeowners do not even realize that their home may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they know. Unfortunately for them, a new breed of thieves is well aware of the value of home equity, and a scam known as "deed theft" has allowed them to steal homes from thousands of people.

Deed theft is simple in principle. The perpetrators of deed theft post flyers around town offering "foreclosure help." They seek homeowners with mortgages who may be experiencing some temporary financial setback that threatens them with foreclosure...more click on heading

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Most people probably assume that obtaining a mortgage to purchase a home, refinance or to consolidate debt after a bankruptcy is out of the question. In fact, many people are able to obtain these mortgage services, even 1 day after a bankruptcy discharge in some cases. Loan programs and lenders are available that require little or no time after the discharge of a bankruptcy. Here are a few tips to speed up the road to credit recovery and the mortgage services you desire.

First, continue timely paying on items such as your home and cars that were not discharged in the bankruptcy. Having at least a couple credit items you are paying on- time will help. Second, limit the amount of other debts such as credit cards or bank loans. Too much debt will make it more difficult to qualify for a loan, particularly revolving credit accounts such as credit cards. Your debt-to-income ratio is one part of the puzzle lenders will look at in determining your ability to repay a mortgage...more click on heading

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