Mortgage Fraud from the Government Viewpoint: FBI anyone?

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MANY of my friends eyes glaze over as I talk mortgage fruad. It's like a huge, circular, interlocking, labyrinth of information. It's the same way I feel when they talk FOOTBALL.
My friends and relatives might think "What is the big deal?" And I try to explain that they are giving up their homes in many cases because they were targeted and EXPECTED to default. I always think when there is FRAUD "don't give up without swinging the bat."

AS one of my friends have said - "You almost didn't stand a chance, you turned on the TV, they pushed these toxic loans and they approved them". I chime in with the thoughts that THEN they had fraud in the loan, in the process of trying to modify and in the foreclosure process itself. If that doesn't just boil your sense of injustice nothing will. I have friends that have lost homes with 60K to 100K invested as down payment. It isn't always people skipping town, people have job changes, moves, child support changes.

NOW I HAVE the ultimate answer for my friends... the ones STRUGGLING to get modified, or in process of LOSING their home. Many who are walking away saying its not right to not pay, we'll just go quietly. Well one branch of government at least, takes it seriously.

TRY THE F.B.I. oh yes, they have skin in the game. They are investigating actively the mortgage fraud. People are everyday submitting their proofs of fraud to the FBI and they are faithfully compiling information. How LONG DO YOU THINK it will be before a sting operation is started then completed?


Here are a couple of excerpts from their site and hopefully my journalistic license and bold highlights will keep me out of jail:

"The ongoing discovery of the lack of due diligence in historical subprime loans, loan modification re-defaults,⁵ increasing prime fixed-rate loan delinquencies,⁶ and the expected increases over the next three years⁷ in the interest rates on Alternative A-paper (Alt-A)^b and Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage(ARM)^c loans raise the chance for future mortgage defaults. During the next two years, a total of $80 billion of prime and Alt-A loans and a total of $50 billion subprime loans are due to recast.⁸ These factors combine to fuel a mortgage fraud climate rife with opportunity. Consequently, mortgage fraud perpetrators are continuing to take advantage of the opportunities provided in a distressed housing market.

Here is another excerpt:

Mortgage Fraud Defined - Fraud for profit, however, often involves multiple loans and elaborate schemes perpetrated to gain illicit proceeds from property sales. Gross misrepresentations concerning appraisals and loan documents are common in fraud for profit schemes, and participants are frequently paid for their participation. Although there is no centralized reporting mechanism for mortgage fraud complaints or investigations, numerous regulatory, industry, and law enforcement agencies collaborate to share information used to assess the current fraud climate.

Source: FBI Financial Crimes Section, Financial Institution Fraud Unit, Mortgage Fraud: A Guide for Investigators, 2003.

NOW INQUIRING MINDS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THERE IS NOT REPORTING MECHANISM FOR THE HUGE AMOUNT OF LOAN FRAUD WE ARE SEEING!

The seriousness of the FBI is not in doubt, however, when you see the front page for the FBI mortgage section:


From foreclosure frauds to subprime shenanigans, mortgage fraud is a growing crime threat that is hurting homeowners, businesses, and the national economy. Learn more here about the scope of the problem and our work to combat it.




http://www.fbi.gov/hq/mortgage_fraud.htm