Loan Modification

Indictments Announced in Mortgage Rescue Scam

Posted on February 22, 2010
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has announced the indictment of Jeffery Tye Brown, 50, of Henderson, on charges of four felony counts of theft and one felony count of forgery in connection with the operation of DB Financial Services, a foreclosure rescue business located in Henderson...

Brookline mortgage broker sentenced for fraud

Posted on February 22, 2010
A Brookline man has been sentenced to five years probation, with four months of home detention, for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said. Jason Jester, 40, of Fordham Drive was convicted of wire fraud conspiracy for running Precision Mortgage, a mortgage broker business that helped borrowers obtain real [...

Another Connecticut Real Estate Agent Admits Defrauding Bank in Short Sale Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on February 22, 2010
Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANNA McELANEY, 38, a licensed real estate agent residing in Norwalk, pleaded guilty today before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport to one count of bank fraud stemming from her involvement in a ?short [...

Mortgage fraud: Bloomberg, nonprofit try to raise awareness

Posted on February 21, 2010
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Mortgage fraud reports up 7.5 percent, US agency says

Posted on February 21, 2010
Suspicious activity reports filed in the third quarter of 2009 showed a 7.5 percent increase in possible mortgage loan fraud over a year earlier, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reported on Thursday. Forty-two percent of the reported activity took place in California and Florida, while the greater Miami, Los Angeles and New York [...

Police Arrest Second Suspect in Connection with Real Estate Scam

Posted on February 21, 2010
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Five who Targeted Homeowners in Default Sentenced to Federal Prison in $13 Million Mortgage Fraud Case

Posted on February 20, 2010
Orange County Man Gets 15 Years for Fraud, Refusal to Account for Off-Shore Money A Downey woman who orchestrated a real estate fraud scheme that caused nearly $13 million in losses after falsely promising to help homeowners in default on their mortgages has been sentenced to 10 years in [...

Birmingham Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Mail Fraud Associated With Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on February 20, 2010
A 32-year-old Birmingham man pleaded guilty today in federal court to mail fraud charges connected to a mortgage fraud scheme that totaled more than $1 million, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance in conjunction with FBI and Housing and Urban Development officials...

Long Beach Man Pleads Guilty to a Ponzi Scheme that netted $33 Million of Profits in Real Estate Invesments

Posted on February 19, 2010
A 33-year-old Long Beach man who operated a number of ventures that he used to solicit money with false claims of profitable investments in real estate has pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge. Jon Weldon James pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to the federal offense related to [...

Real Estate Broker Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Posted on February 19, 2010
ST. LOUIS, MO?The United States Attorney?s Office announced today that Randall Penberthy, Jr., has pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with brokering real estate transactions between 2006 and 2007. From 2003 through 2008, Randall Penberthy, Jr...

Man says he did no wrong by renting out others? homes

Posted on February 19, 2010
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New York Attorney Charged with Mortgage Fraud

Posted on February 18, 2010
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the [...]

CALIFORNIA STATE BAR TAKES ACTION TO AID HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE CRISIS

Posted on February 17, 2010
The State Bar of California, alarmed by the number of lawyers preying on vulnerable homeowners, today identified 16 attorneys who are under investigation for misconduct related to loan modification. ?In my 21 years in attorney discipline, I have not seen a crisis of this magnitude...

Tempted By Foreclosure Crisis, Some Lawyers Overcharge & Underwork

Posted on February 17, 2010
The foreclosure crisis has resulted in a lot of work for lawyers hired to try to help struggling owners hang onto their homes. But it has also resulted in a record number of complaints concerning claimed unscrupulous practices, some of which have already led to disciplinary action, according to a Daily Business Review [...

Mortgage-Rescue Meltdown: Calif. Probes 400 Lawyers, Fields 30 Complaints Daily

Posted on February 17, 2010
Amidst the mortgage meltdown, a stunning number of lawyers reportedly may be taking advantage of desperate homeowners by accepting thousands of dollars in fees from individuals while doing little or no work to save their homes. The California Bar is probing more than 400 lawyers in such cases, and is fielding 30 [...

Details emerge in Sarasota couple?s flipping case

Posted on February 17, 2010
( page of 6 ) Filed in Oklahoma City by two banks and a title insurance company, the suits claim that Kevin and Deborah Flessner bought three apartment complexes in Oklahoma and one in South Carolina at the height of the real estate boom for $9.1 million and sold the complexes — [...

Mortgage Fraud involved 20 homes

Posted on February 16, 2010
Ricky Dean Unruh, 43, of Wichita, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a case involving a mortgage fraud scheme involving 20 houses with home mortgage loans ranging from $200,000 to $500,000, according to the Internal [...

Pittsburgh Couple Pleaded Guilty of Mortgage Fraud

Posted on February 16, 2010
Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar announced today, February 12, 2010, that on February 11, 2010, Randy Berger and Elleni Berger, residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charges of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme...

Joel D. Surprenant, Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty

Posted on February 14, 2010
Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud Related to Residential Loan Applications West Linn Broker Admits Fraudulent Loan Applications Cost Banks in Excess of $240,000 PORTLAND, OR?Joel D. Surprenant, 43, of West Linn, Oregon, pled guilty today to the crime of bank fraud...

?Short Sale Fraud? Top Five Mortgage Scams in 2010

Posted on February 14, 2010
Salt Lake City FBI and Utah Division of Real Estate Name Top Five Mortgage Scams in 2010 Special Agents and State Investigators Warn Utahns to Beware Is someone letting you live in a home for free? Did a builder offer you deep discounts to move into a newly constructed house? Has a company offered to refinance your mortgage for [...

Michael Ohayon and David Papera Indicted in $19.6 Million Mortgage Fraud

Posted on February 14, 2010
Mortgage Broker and Real Estate Developer Indicted in $19.6 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme SAN FRANCISCO? a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Michael Ohayon and David Papera with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering, United States Attorney Joseph P...

Kurt Heintz Broker and Appraiser Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on February 14, 2010
Former Flint Area Real Estate Broker and Appraiser Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme Kurt Warren Heintz, age 39, of Grand Blanc, Michigan, formerly the owner of Great Lakes Broker Funding in Grand Blanc, Michigan, was sentenced on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, to 65 months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on one [...

Split verdict scrutinized in NJ corruption trial

Posted on February 14, 2010

San Francisco, CA broker and real estate developer charged with $19.6m bank fraud

Posted on February 14, 2010
According to the indictment, Michael Ohayon, 41, and David Papera, 47, allegedly recruited thirteen straw buyers who used their good credit scores to nab $19.6 million in fraudulent mortgage loans from Washington Mutual Bank, with no intention of making either down payments or mortgage payments on the properties...

Audit exposes New Jersey property tax program flaws

Posted on February 14, 2010
TRENTON, N.J. ? Lax oversight, confusing rules and potential fraud have combined to cost New Jersey millions each year in rebates and tax deductions given to homeowners who may not qualify for them, according to a recently released state audit. If not corrected, the state could stand to lose more money as [...

Central Florida pair victimized thousands around the world, federal officials say

Posted on February 14, 2010
Hundreds of gold bars. Luxury cars. And cold, hard cash. These were the spoils, federal officials say, of what appeared to be successful ventures involving Pedro Benevides and Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho. Between them, the Central Florida associates ran or were part of a series of area businesses — investment, real estate, aviation, [...

Exempt market losses burn investors Prompt debate

Posted on February 14, 2010
It was in the summer of 2008 that Jenn Lofgren first began to suspect that the $80,000 she’d invested in real estate funds was in jeopardy. The fund managers at Calgary-based Shire International Real Estate Investments Ltd. weren’t returning her calls...

Mortgage Company Liable for Aiding and Abetting Real Estate Broker Fraud

Posted on February 14, 2010
Mona Dobben, 70-year-old Arizona resident,  stands up and takes down a 20-billion-dollar Mortgage Company by winning a $100,000.00 judgment which includes punitive damages. American Home Mortgage (AHM) was found liable for aiding and abetting a fraud perpetrated on Dobben by an unlicensed real estate broker (In Re: American Home Mortgage Holdings, et al...

Columbus mortgage broker sent to prison for house-flipping scheme

Posted on February 14, 2010
A Columbus mortgage broker was sentenced today to six years in federal prison for his involvement in a far-reaching house-flipping scheme in central Ohio.  Jonathan L. Boyd is the last of 10 people sentenced in what has been described as the largest mortgage-fraud case ever prosecuted here...

Sentences too short in Shellbyville fraud case

Posted on February 14, 2010
Home builder Roger Ritch was given a 39-month sentence on Monday and must pay over $2.2 million in restitution to lenders who were defrauded in the scheme, but Detective Sgt. Brian Farris believes that U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr. was far too lenient to those involved in the conspiracy...

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