Loan Modification

Seven Charged in Mortgage Fraud Bust

Posted on June 16, 2009
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today announced that his office has filed charges against seven individuals at the forefront of a major mortgage fraud operation in Southeast Michigan.  The charges resulted from a year-long investigation by the Michigan Mortgage Fraud Task Force and included efforts from the Michigan State Police, U...

U.S. Senate Passes Mortgage Fraud Enforcement Legislation

Posted on April 28, 2009
A federal bill to improve enforcement of mortgage fraud, securities fraud, financial institution fraud, and other frauds related to federal assistance and relief programs, has been passed by the United States Senate by a majority of 84-4. Senate Bill 386 (S...

Andrew Williams Jr., Michael Hickson, Isaac Smith, and Alvita Gunn Charged in $70 Million Mortgage Fraud Case

Posted on April 28, 2009
Metro Dream Homes (also known as Metropolitan Grapevine LLC, POS Dream Homes, and POS DH LLC) had all the trappings of success ? its top officials lived lavish lifestyles, kept a fleet of chauffeur-driven cars, and donated generously to charities. And it used slick marketing to sell its “Dream Homes Program,” which promised to pay [...

Jonathan Helgason and Thomas Balko Guilty in $35 Million Minneapolis Mortgage Fraud

Posted on April 23, 2009
The two owners of a Roseville, Minnesota, real estate company have been sentenced in federal court for mortgage fraud in connection with a scheme involving 162 properties, principally in north Minneapolis, and mortgage proceeds of approximately $35 million...

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Oregon Mortgage Fraud News

Posted on April 20, 2009
Image via Wikipedia The FBI and U.S. Attorney?s Office today announced plans to ramp up efforts to identify and prosecute real estate and mortgage fraud in Oregon. As part of this multi-agency effort, a dedicated e-mail address and telephone tip line have been established to enable the public to report mortgage fraud...

Peter Affatati Sentenced for $40 Million Florida Mortgage Fraud

Posted on April 17, 2009
Image via Wikipedia R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office, Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Duncan Foster, Chief of Police, Coral Springs Police Department, and Sheriff Al Lamberti, Broward Sheriff?s Office, announced [...

State of Florida Launches Mortgage Fraud Website

Posted on April 16, 2009
Image via Wikipedia The State of Florida unveiled a new website today designed to help homeowners avoid real estate and mortgage fraud-related scams. The website, Florida Mortgage Fraud, provides homeowners and their loved ones with access to current investigations, complaint forms, and tips to identify and avoid a number of different types of real estate and [...

Dustin Thompson and Sean McLaughlin Indicted for Cash-back Mortgage Fraud in Arizona

Posted on April 14, 2009
Image by robotography via Flickr Dustin Thompson, 30, and Sean McLaughlin, 29, were indicted on April 8, 2009, on four counts of Wire Fraud and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud as a result of their involvement in a cash back at closing mortgage fraud scheme in Arizona...

FTC in Massive Crackdown on Loan Modification Industry

Posted on April 06, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has stepped up its efforts in the battle against real estate and mortgage fraud. As I reported in September of 2007 (see “FTC Issues Warning on Mortgage Lenders Ads“), the FTC has long had its eye on deceptive practices within the real estate industry, so it comes as no surprise [...

FBI?s Latest Information on Mortgage Fraud

Posted on April 02, 2009
Image via Wikipedia When I first read about John Pistole’s Congressional testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary, I figured I’d take an hour or so to read through his testimony myself and summarize it for readers here on Flipping Frenzy...

No Joke: Fake Mortgage Company Busted in Michigan

Posted on April 01, 2009
This is the kind of story you’d expect to hear about on April Fools Day, but sadly it’s true. Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) has ordered an entity claiming to be a mortgage company to cease and desist from doing business...

Omni National Bank Now Under Federal Reserve Oversight

Posted on March 18, 2009
Image via Wikipedia To update a story I wrote on May 29, 2008 (”Real Estate Fraud and the Real Estate Investor: Banks can be victims too!“), Omni Financial Services Inc., the bank holding company for Omni National Bank, is now officially operating under a mandatory regulatory oversight plan put into place by the Federal Reserve Bank [...

Countrywide and Intent to Accelerate

Posted on March 17, 2009
Image by Getty Images via Daylife I recently received the below question from someone who reads one of my other blogs–KeepMyHouse.com. In short, without going into too much detail, I think Flipping Frenzy readers–especially those of you who closely follow Countrywide–might appreciate knowing about this: Question: We are a disabled couple who had a serious re-model which [...

San Antonio, Texas, Establishes a Mortgage Fraud Hotline

Posted on March 12, 2009
The San Antonio, Texas, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the establishment of a telephone hotline to receive complaints from the public regarding allegations of real estate and mortgage fraud. As Flipping Frenzy readers know all to well, the FBI considers mortgage fraud to be a significant and growing crime which often [...

Stefan Guerra, Daryle Edwards, and Leon Jones Guilty of Mortgage Fraud in Missouri

Posted on March 12, 2009
Image via Wikipedia Stefan M. Guerra, 30, of Lee?s Summit, Missouri, and Daryle A. Edwards, 37, and Leon T. Jones, 42, both of Olathe, Kansas., have pleaded guilty in separate appearances before a U.S. Chief District Judge for their roles in a $12.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved 25 residential properties in Lee’s Summit and [...

Waver Brickhouse?s FDIC Dilemma

Posted on March 10, 2009
Image via Wikipedia When a then 65-year-old Brooklyn, New York, woman sought the assistance of a foreclosure rescue firm, instead of helping her refinance and save her home, the much maligned Home Savers Consulting Corp. sold her home from under her. To add insult to injury, insolvent IndyMac, which is now controlled by the Federal Deposit [...

Gerald Carti of Failed US Mortgage Corp. is Guilty of Illegal Flipping and Mortgage Fraud

Posted on March 02, 2009
Image via Wikipedia Gerald Carti, a 62-year-old loan officer and owner of a filed mortgage New Jersey-based mortgage company, pled guilty last week to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a mortgage fraud and property-flipping scheme involving rental properties in Paterson, NJ...

It?s Dummies Month ? Celebrate with Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies

Posted on March 01, 2009
March is Dummies Month — a time when my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, ramps up its promotional efforts for books in the popular ‘For Dummies’ series. If you haven’t purchased Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies yet, now is a great time to get your very own copy...

Fredric ?Rick? Dryer Receives 132-year Prison Sentence for Real Estate Fraud

Posted on February 25, 2009
Fredric “Rick” Dryer, who was accused of scamming investors out of millions of dollars in a massive real estate fraud scheme, has been sentenced to prison for 132 years by a Denver, Colorado, district court judge. The Sixty-year-old Dryer was convicted in July of 2008 on 43 felony counts including racketeering, securities fraud and theft...

John Nicolo, Constance Roeder, and David Finnman Setenced for Real Estate Fraud

Posted on February 20, 2009
Image via Wikipedia John Nicolo, 75, his wife Constance Roeder, 65, and David Finnman, 61, have all been sentenced for their roles in a real estate scam involving real property tax appraisal and assessment schemes. Last May, after a 10-week trial, a jury convicted Nicolo and Finnman with defrauding Eastman Kodak Company, IBM, Global Crossing, ITT [...

Is Obama?s Foreclosure Plan Ripe for Mortgage Fraud?

Posted on February 19, 2009
Image via Wikipedia If you believe some lawmakers, President Obama’s $75 billion foreclosure rescue plan is an open invitation for people to commit real estate and mortgage fraud. From CBS News: House Republican leadership and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to administration officials asking for assurances that anti-fraud measures [...