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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Georgia Department of Banking and Finance Issues Consumer Alert on Mortgage Payment Increases
Commissioner Rob Braswell today issued a CSBS/AARMR consumer alert urging homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages –- especially those with nontraditional mortgages—to plan now for the scheduled “recasts” or “resets” of interest rates in the year ahead.
The advisory urges borrowers to:
• Seek information on the characteristics of your mortgage
• Budget accordingly
• Contact your servicer for assistance, if needed
• Inquire about the terms of any prepayment penalty
• Ask about possible solutions if payments are past due
The advisory notes that nontraditional mortgage loans and many subprime loans frequently feature a recast (or reset) with a significant payment increase.
The Department also issued a CSBS/AARMR industry letter encouraging mortgage servicers and providers to reach out to consumers to provide information on their loans and to work with consumers to avoid foreclosure. “Servicers should provide information on when the recast will occur and how much the monthly payment will adjust,” said Commissioner Braswell. “Should the loans go into default, servicers should consider workout
arrangements to prevent foreclosures,” he said.
Commissioner Braswell noted efforts by the NeighborWorks organization, which has established a hotline (888-995-HOPE) to reach struggling homeowners with strategic solutions.
The resets are ominous. Piled atop the subprime mess, this combination could be lethal in the coming year.
The con men will come out of the woodwork to cash-in on this condition.
--Jack Payne
www.sixhrs.com
Posted by on 07/08 at 12:49 PM
The lack of ethics seems to be a problem in almost all Business. I now doubt that new laws could solve the problem. Fewer Laws may actually help in solving the problem by letting Consumers use Counter Tactics against the Crooks by Playing The Exact Same Games that the Crooks play. ( An Example Of Playing The Same Games Is to send 1000 pages of small print in a letter to one of those Boiler Room Operators, and put a short clause at the twenty third line of the seventy seventh page of that letter, stating that by not responding within 3 days the reader voluntarily gives up all Fourth Amendment Rights and can be Searched By Government Authorities at any time without notice ). If they can play those games so can we. *** Here is more to make my point about dirty tricks played these days by unethical business people.
If a Salesman can prove that you received a message from him, and that message contained certain language, you may have accidentally given that Salesman permission to keep selling you products services memberships and subscriptions, and automatically charge you, even without any action at all on your part. You don’t have to say yes or no for that to happen. The Salesman only has to prove that you had the opportunity to read the words in his message to you. Failure to respond gives him permission to rip you off. To slow down or stop that Salesman you have to sue him, but it takes time and money to sue him, and the likelihood that the Authorities will solve your problem is unknown.
A long time ago BUYING was a deliberate intentional willful act that required a decision on the part of the person doing the buying, but now PASSIVE BUYING is all too likely to be ruining the financial security of many Consumers. Sales And Marketing Professionals now are more like Con Artists than ever before by the way that they invent Consumer Traps that can suck a person’s cash and credit away in an instant. Those Intellectual Mobsters in Sales And Marketing use a combination of Creative Writing and Psychology to create confusion in the minds of Consumers, but those Predators also just rush in and interrupt people while they are already too busy with their own lives. Sales People don’t want to give people any leisure time to just relax and unwind. It is a form of assault in the way that they deprive us of our space and our time. It is like a back alley mugging, but it can happen to you in your own living room.
I’m looking for an organization similar to yours, but it would be focused on problems that go far beyond mere Privacy Protection and Utility Company and Energy Price Issues. Perhaps you may know of such an organization. The problem is that it is getting too easy to accidentally buy things without knowing it.
Aggressive Marketing is out of control. There are too may Sales People, and they all seem to be competing with each other to sell things to only one very unwilling customer. As a customer I like to be the one who decides what I will buy and where I will buy and when I will buy. I like the way shopping is done in a department store or supermarket where I pick what I want and then pay at the counter and then leave with what I purchased without being mauled by predatory stalking cajoling commission sales people such as the ones found at automobile dealerships and in furniture stores.
Now those predatory sales people keep you in their clutches electronically if they know your account numbers, and they are perpetrators of what I believe to be out right Fraud.
There was a time when one would have to say “I Agree”, and place a signature, in order to seal a contract. Now it is far too easy to seal a contract while doing absolutely nothing. Ignoring the notice of an offer now means acceptance of that offer? Then if the vendor knows an address that he can send a bill to, or if he knows your credit card number, he can sell thousands of dollars worth of junk to you while you sleep, and you will know nothing about it until you wake up. A person can now go on a shopping binge while in a Coma.
CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS NEED TO BE SHORTER AND SIMPLER AND NEED TO BE LIMITED TO ONE AND ONLY ONE PURCHASE OR TRANSACTION PER CONTRACT. Buying one song that was performed by “The Beetles” should not imply an agreement to also buy everything that hit the air waves from now back to ancient times.
The horror of finding out that I am buying things that I did not want totally without my knowledge or consent. Actually the notification often has been buried in a small clause in an obscure part of the agreement. The notification may have been too ambiguous, but anyway the notification is easy to miss. I don’t have enough time to sit and read every piece of junk mail that I receive, and it is ENOUGH that I have to read the details of every billing statement that I get because even those statements don’t just GET TO THE POINT.
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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