Mortgage Fraud Blog is the premier website for news and information on mortgage fraud and real estate fraud throughout the United States.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of Smith Dollar, PC, is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California. Email Ms. Dollar
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The Colorado Division of Insurance closed down 11 ?sham? title insurance agencies this week. The Division asserted that the agencies were created as vehicles to provide kickbacks to mortgage brokers. In addition, the Division suspended the license of the title agent identified as the companies? responsible producer.
According to the Division, Douglas Farr, the primary owner and the title agent listed as the responsible producer for the agencies, misappropriated escrow funds collected by the agencies in furtherance of residential real estate closings. The agencies? underwriters are obligated to honor the title commitments issued to consumers through the suspended agencies to avoid consumer harm. Title insurers Dakota Homestead and Attorneys Title underwrite or have underwritten policies for the agencies.
This summer, the Division commenced an investigation of ownership arrangements between and among all 500 or so licensed title insurance entities and those who refer business to the agencies. The investigation was prompted by an explosion in the number of title agencies seeking licensure, and complaints that the agencies were created solely to provide kickbacks to real estate agents and lenders who referred business to the agencies. Providing remuneration to those who refer business to title agencies is prohibited under Colordao state and federal law.
Farr?s companies were the first to be investigated. Division investigators determined that some of the agencies performed no title services, had few or no employees, and in at least one case, had no physical office location. In addition, Farr and the agencies failed to pay one of the agencies? underwriters, Attorneys Title, approximately $500,000 in premium. Consequently, several thousand Colorado consumers did not receive title insurance policies. The Division is working with the underwriter to ensure no consumers are harmed.
The Division expects to take more regulatory actions as the investigation progresses.
?Affiliated business arrangements are not inherently bad,? said Commissioner David Rivera. ?However, sham agencies affect the ability of legitimate title agencies to compete fairly in the marketplace. It?s our goal to take appropriate regulatory actions to level the playing field and ensure a competitive title insurance marketplace that will benefit Colorado?s consumers?, he said.
I have been involved in a lawsuit against CPR Title and and lender, Financial Capital Equities LLC for going on tree years. I have no lawyer you see, to complicated for ever attorney I talked to so I have done it myself. What has been discribe here is just a small portion of what they have done. Just out right creating false records, is also one of their things. About two months before the orders came down from the state MR Pulchiani with drew as the attorney for the company, they company terminated there mailing address, and never responded again. I have yet to figure out what to do about any of this at this point. Certainly everything I said about them and others appears to be true.
Posted by on 12/06 at 01:36 PM
i am an investigator in denver....i took have a couple matters for which i have been chasing down douglas farr....perhaps we could be of assistance to each other.
my phone number is 720-291-5500.
Posted by on 01/18 at 04:22 PM
Would like to speak with you RE:this your gonna freak two of these title Co listed above forged paper work used false notary stamps, lots of other schemes we are out thousands of dollars and homeless I think you will want to see our paper work, also we have had monies taken out of our ACCount we know who is involved have documents to prove our case.
Posted by on 04/02 at 08:28 AM
Yes, I would be interested in seeing your paper work. And no nothing surprises me when it comes to the people I have named.
I can tell you this at this point. Colorado Division of Ins. is no longer interested in these people. I would be surprise if the State Attorney Generals office is interested. However FBI is still interested. I turned over a lot of my personal investigation into these people. It was used by State of Colorado Employees to secure themselves big promotions, make a lot of noise, and then the dropped the whole things. Can’t hope for much from them.
Posted by on 04/04 at 12:02 PM
Thee reason I am writing is because Fidelity title, handled my closing,and other matters RE: the sale of my home.I recieved no monies and I cant get any answers from fidelity title or thee realtor that sold my home.property taxes were taken and kept dateing 2004 I did not live there in 2004 I bought this home 0n11-15-05 and all taxes were current however they still insisted taxes were delinquent not true,,And 2005 taxes were kept as well, I have proof of all taxes paid when they were due and when they were payed.there are many other details and monies that were taken contracts /documents were changed and forged/ notorized/my signed my name or should I say forged my name on most of these documents. Is there any one you can recommend to help me here in ALBUQ NM,Thee Attonerys I have contacted want lots of money which I dont have, Any leads you can give me would be of great help. thanks , DLL.
Posted by on 04/05 at 11:17 AM
Contact your state division of insurance and make a complaint. Also your states division of real estate and make a complaint against the the agent that sold you the house, also if there is a bank involved make a complaint against them (www.dfi.wa.gov) keep complaining. Call your newpaper, and complain that no one will listen. In the mean time look for an attorney, and or the money it takes to get an attorney.
Also look in clerk and recorders office for like events with these people. More then likely they are already in court with someone else. Or you will find someone in same boat. Power in numbers. These people basicly got away with this in colorado. No one was help to get there homes back. Those at the top of the investigation help themselves and no one else.
Turn Fidlility in to the FBI now. They will listen.
Continue to look for an attorney.
Posted by on 04/15 at 05:11 PM
I have a complaint against my mortgage company. They paid my taxes for 2007 because they were due on Feb 1st but I usually paid them by March 1st when I get my income tax refund. They said the tax office told them that it would go up for auction in August but that is not true. It has to be unpaid and deliquent for three years in a row, my has never been unpaid. My trailer sits on 4 acres of land that is not including in my mortgage note. The land is free and clear. My mortgage company put my note in escrow even though my land is not part of the note. Are they violating in laws by doing this. I thought you could not put property into escrow unless it is part of the mortgage note. I am paying them the taxes back but I need legal feedback so I can write them a letter stating that they had not right to do that. They said I broke my contract with them. My loan was originally with Southtrust bank in Alabama but 21st Mortgage bought my loan. I can email you a copy of the contract and so you where he highlighted the part where he said on broke my contract. But within the paragraph there is a statement in () that they are not obligated to pay this taxes or charges. Please contact me at the above email address. Also the land is in my name not my husband at all and is free and clear.
thank you
teresa rowell
Posted by on 03/18 at 03:33 AM
In Feb, 2007 my daughter and son-in-law, Margaret E. Miller and William B. Miller signed a 3 year lease to live at 7092 S. Lewis CT, Littleton, Colorado. I moved up from Houston, TX to live with them. We made our lease payments every month on time, with most of the time at least 2 weeks before payment was due. In June we received a letter telling us that our house was in foreclosure. We immediately called our leasing company who was as surprised as we were. In talking to our neighbors we discovered that this house has been in foreclosure 5 times. It seems that the owners, the Purcells, have been pocketing the lease money and not paying the mortgage. The sad part of this is that Ann Purcell is in a RealEstate agent and owns several pieces of property in the same area. We received another letter,supposedly from their lawyer telling us that we need to either buy the house or leave. We continued to pay our lease payments, on the advice from the Leasing company. We then had the house appraised with the idea of buying the house, and submitted a quote, based on the appraisal value. It was turned down. We discovered that they owed more than $400,00. This is when we started looking for a house to buy. We found one that didn’t need to have the windows replaced (as we would have done had we bought the 7092 S. Lewis Ct house, nor would we have had to replace the fence, the floors, the carpet and other things that would have had to be done. What really bothered us is that this woman was nominated Real Estate Agent for 2007. Of the 5 families that lived in that houses, not one of them reported this to the authorities. The neighbors on both sides of us knew what was happening and nobody did anything about it.
I realize it won’t help us, but I feel that there will be others that will be signing leases only to have the same thing happening to them. PLEASE, THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE STOPPED!
Sincerely,
Patricia M. Curtis
We are expecting to hear from you about this! Patricia M. Curtis
Posted by on 03/31 at 07:12 PM
Just from what I have heard living from Santa Rosa mortgage brokers. There is fraught is done all the time. Until recently mortgage brokers were like dogs at each other throat to get some ones business and make a quick buck. i would image that people who actually did get scammed would have little chance of getting their care resolved, because there are so many.
Posted by on 04/14 at 08:48 AM
Having worked in banking for many years I am well aware of Identity theft. It is indeed a huge problem worldwide. (As if the insurance business have not got enough problems at present!)
Have you heard of Kwikbinder? I am really impressed by what I have seen and they have great ideas to help you grow in slowing housing markets and the system is written to protect against Identity Theft.
When the going gets tough the tough gets going.
Posted by on 05/28 at 01:58 AM
Many banks and other lenders have set up title insurance agencies and title insurance joint ventures in the last few years, because the distribution of title insurance is a very attractive source for additional fee income and an ancillary activity to making loans. Unfortunately some participants in these ventures have not been fully cognizant and compliant with the federal and state regulatory requirements for undertaking these affiliated business arrangements
Posted by on 11/05 at 03:47 AM
I was checking for info on Douglas Farr and found this great site. Not sure when this was posted because I can’t find a date, but I am writing 8/21/09. My husband was the victim of identity theft several years ago, and thought he had it all cleared up. Then the state sends a bill for $12,000 because Colorado Public Records, Inc. submitted a false 1099 showing they paid him $174,000!!! Upon research of the company, find D. Farr, Dustin Pulciani and others involved in these title fraud scams. At least the state will now believe this is a fraudulent 1099. What scumbags these people are.
Posted by on 08/21 at 03:57 PM
My wife & I were Ripped off By One of These Guys, They Signed my Wifes Name to all the Documents,The Title Company Officer even Sigend My wifes name & used some elses Notary Stamp we were never present when they were Notorized,They even Charged us More On there Commission, Gave to some Other so called Broker that we never Met, The Lending officer was involved he have all the Documents Still The Realtor Moved his office to his home, & is very Carefull with whom he Ripps off now, The Courts & the Feds No about these Thieves, & Do Nothing.
Posted by on 08/24 at 06:21 AM
How do I recover all Our losses I still have all the Forged Documents & Forged Nortory Documents..
Posted by on 08/24 at 06:24 AM
The Title Insurance Co from Colo, Is one of the BRANCH Offices that Ripped us off, they Forged My Wifes Name & notorized Documents without her being present when we got there all Papers were Stamped & signed, Even had some other Persons Notory Stamp Name on Our Documents, They gave money to the Mortgage Lender, Stating he was a Realtor so they gave him a Commission, as well, He was a B of A lender, thee Insurance title forged all Documents we never signed nothing in front of nobody, but we get all Documents signed and Nortorized, never got a penny when we sold our Home,
Posted by on 08/24 at 06:34 AM
My ex-brother-in-law took me around to see numerous homes he lived in or had direct access to. These homes were on average worth $650,000. The one he lived in was worth over a $1,000,000. I was desperate for a career change and he gave me this story of how he was over leveraged on properties he owned, but knew of this mountain property he would help me obtain. We were both going to turn this property into a profitable Italian carryout restaurant since he agreed to finance any renovations needed. He also agreed to make all the payments on the property and buy it back from me in 6 months. Since I had known him for over 25 years I did not expect anything less from him then his usual honest behavior in dealing with me and could at the very least sell the property for what it is worth. He did not even make the first payment or make improvements to the property as agreed upon, and eventually the property went into foreclosure. He later admitted to me all the properties he bought were not his, but he had used “straw” buyers like myself to buy them. All of these too went into foreclosure. He also reported to me the mortgage agent and the appraiser used in my real-estate transaction he uses all of the time when “he needs to get a deal done”. He further stated his appraiser would appraise the property for what it will be worth when improvements are completed and not what the property is worth now. I also investigated what the property was worth and found it to be at best $185,000 but it had been appraised for over $450,000. The appraisal also stated the square footage was twice the actual footage, which obviously meant the appraiser never once took any measures of the actual square footage of the property. I then reported this to the first mortgage holder who then ordered a second appraisal on the property. The first mortgage holder had found that the original appraisal on the property had been fraudulent. I then reported the entire transaction to the F.B.I., C.B.I., and the Colorado Dept. of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). The DORA investigation turned up some very important information. First, after my closing on the house a secret second closing took place without my knowledge or consent. At this closing a real-estate agent (I never knew she was involved) was given a check, the previous owners, and my ex-brother-in-law was given one for $126,000. This helped to account for the need to have the appraisal over $250,000.00 of the property’s actual worth. Needless to say the property was eventually foreclosed on but the first mortgage carrier cleared up any of my credit issues due to the fraud involved. Yet, the bank with the second mortgage took over the property and would not clear up my credit. Furthermore, not only did I not pay for the appraiser (my ex-brother-in-law did), but he had his license revoked by the State of Colorado after committing fraud on over 33 properties (court case brought this information out)! My personal estimation suggests this number could be anywhere from one hundred to two hundred properties. What makes matters worse is that he was on probation by the State of Colorado during my real-estate transaction. Is there any way I can take any action against the second mortgage carrier for attempting to hold me to an illegal transaction or damaging an otherwise perfect credit history? Also, both the F.B.I. and C.B.I. seem unconcerned with my ex-brother-in-law’s illegal activities. All of the properties he used with the help of false appraisals in order to pull money out of them are now foreclosed on. How will he receive justice?
Failed Mortgage Firm Trustee Allowed $50,000 in Fees Union Leader
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge J. Michael Deasy will approve $50,000 in legal fees for the trustee of failed mortgage brokerage businesses Financial Resources Mortgage Inc. and CL&M Inc.
Bend Oregon Event to Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosures Oregon.Gov
As part of an ongoing effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, state agencies are organizing a foreclosure-prevention event in Bend on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
Shelbyville Man Gets 2-Year Sentence For Loan Fraud Chattanoogan.Com
Prosecutor Gary Humble said the lost was approximately $2.3 million in the mortgage fraud involving hundreds of homes in the Shelbyville area.
Lend America, VP Ashley Banned from FHA Housing Wire
Michael Ashley, the embattled former vice president of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage originator Lend America, and the company he worked for, were permanently banned from doing business in the industry last week.
Countrywide Tries to Pin Blame on Insurer Court House News
Countrywide Home Loans demands $111 million from Triad Guaranty Insurance, claiming Triad is trying to blame mortgage lenders for the insurer's role in the housing bubble and collapse.
Investors Say They Were Swindled in Property Scheme Fox 13 Now
Utah Division of Consumer Protection is joining forces with a few investors who claim they have been cheated by an agency called "Utah Mini Ranches.
Greenfield Man Accused of Housing Scam The Republic
A former real estate agent conned at least eight people by renting them properties actually owned by a federal agency and then running off with their deposits, prosecutors said.
Appraisal Institute Opposes Obama Administration's Plan for Homeowner 'Short Sales' PR News Wire
Citing concerns about increased mortgage fraud, four organizations representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers today voiced their opposition to changes to an Obama administration program that will encourage "short sales" of homes.
Ownership Rights to Get Another Look TBO.Com
State lawmakers may beef up protections of property owners' rights by rewriting a law this spring that is at the center of a case of alleged fraud in Pasco County.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Continued Testimony
As reported by Anne Mitchell, who viewed the trial:
Angela Parenza worked for Jeff Miller as the office manager for 7 or 8 years beginning in 1998. Parenza was indicted along with Miller and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. Parenza testified that Miller or his contractors allegedly preferred to build all the...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage Continued - Witness Testimony
Steve Middleton Testimony - Coverage Provided by Anne Mitchell
The Government continued in its cross examination of Steve Middleton. He was shown several HUD-1 statements involving sales of homes located in Overland Park, KS, and Olathe, KS. The HUD statements each allegedly showed line items of payments to (James) Moser & Associates, LLC's...
Monday, February 01, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage - Continued Witness Examination
According to Anne Mitchell, who is present in court for the trial:
Next Witness: Kelly Sanford
Kelly Sanford of the Federal Reserve was a short witness for the Government. Sanford manages electronic payments between banks and member financial institutions. He was shown copies of wire transfers and asked whether they coincided with the counts in...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial - Prosecution Witnesses Continued
According to Anne Mitchell, who is viewing the trial:
January 13, 2010
Witness: Rick Hayes
Rick Hayes testified that on the day that he closed on his Miller Enterprise home, he received a phone call from the Kansas Banking Commission informing him that his loan was fraudulent. After the Hayes responded to a classified ad, they met with John...
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The information and notices contained on Mortgage Fraud Blog are intended to summarize recent developments in mortgage fraud cases and mortgage banking matters nationwide. The posts on this site are presented as general research and information and are expressly not intended, and should not be regarded, as legal advice. Much of the information on this site concerns allegations made in civil lawsuits and in criminal indictments. All persons are presumed innocent until convicted of a crime. Readers who have particular questions about mortgage banking, mortgage fraud matters or who believe they require legal counsel should seek the advice of an attorney. The creators, editors and sponsors of Mortgage Fraud Blog do not intend to create a confidential relationship or an attorney-client relationship by communication via or arising from this site.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
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