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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Myrtle Beach Sees Increasing Tide of Mortgage Fraud
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has been running a series on mortgage fraud in their area. The initial stories appeared October 23 with follow-ups on November 13. Further stories are expected.
Two Laurel Woods subdivision home buyers received deposits into their bank accounts from mobile home dealer Randy Conner, thus making it appear to mortgage companies that the buyers had enough money for down payments and other loan fees, The Sun News has learned. . .
Kevin McDonald, an assistant U.S. attorney in Columbia, said the number of mortgage fraud cases he’s seen has grown in recent years, due in part to the state’s hot housing market, particularly in the Upstate and along the coast.
Last year, for example, McDonald successfully prosecuted 21 individuals in the Greenville area who took part in a fraud scheme in which appraisers, mortgage brokers, attorneys and loan officers falsified mortgage documents and inflated the value of the property they were selling. . . .
At least 106 families have lost their homes to foreclosure since 1999 in Laurel Woods, a 135-acre manufactured-housing neighborhood with 369 homesites in the Burgess community, an investigation by The Sun News shows.
That is the highest foreclosure rate - an average of more than one out of every four homes - for any Grand Strand neighborhood, according to Michelle Halstrom, a local real estate agent who tracks foreclosures. . . .
Beach Mortgage, the company that arranged financing for some of the foreclosed Laurel Woods homes, is facing a pending lawsuit in Horry County claiming that it provided inaccurate financial information, such as a nonexistent down payment, on a mortgage application.
It is the second lawsuit since 2000 in which home buyers say Beach Mortgage included misleading information on loan documents. . . .
It has taken Sylvia Orlando more than three years to start to rebound from the foreclosure of her home at 8373 Cherrywood Drive, and the recovery is far from complete.
Orlando is trying to put a 2001 bankruptcy filing behind her and has been renting a home for the past year with help from the Myrtle Beach Housing Authority. She hopes to qualify for a mortgage in the coming months through a federal program that helps the disabled get home loans.
“Now that I’ve gotten my credit cleaned up, I’m hoping things start working out better,” she said. . . .
The home at 8546 Woodfield Drive has been sold twice in the past four years, and in both cases seller Clayton Mobile Homes has released the owners from their purchase contract because of complaints that the Laurel Woods home is uninhabitable because of mold and water damage.
“We thought we had found our dream home,” said Traci Dellinger who, with her husband, Allen Dellinger, bought the double-wide mobile home in September 2001.
“But it was just one problem after another,” she said. “In the end, it wasn’t worth sacrificing our health to live there.” . . .
The home | Gamble financed a 2001 mobile home at 8177 Woodland Drive in April 2001 with a $103,500 mortgage from First American Mortgage Securities Inc.
What happened | The 30-year mortgage had a 12.99 percent annual interest rate and payments of $1,144.11 per month. Gamble made four payments before defaulting, and a foreclosure suit was filed in March 2003. His home was sold at auction for $500. . .
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...
Legal Disclaimer.
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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